Houston Astros: Alex Bregman’s power potential is real

The month of May has been nice to Bregman and the Houston Astros.

After hitting no home runs in April, Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman has now developed a bit of power in his swing. Now, as a staple at the bottom of the starting lineup, the former No. 2 overall pick just makes the already deep Astros offense that much deeper.

April was a struggle offensively for the young third baseman. After showing a bit of power potential in his rookie year, slugging .478 with 24 extra base hits in only 201 at bats, Bregman started the season with a .250 batting average with only a .310 slugging percentage. In his 84 at bats, his only extra bases were five doubles.

A lot of this had to do with placement in the starting lineup. Initially starting the season in the two-hole, Bregman could not meet the offensive expectations of that spot. In nine games, he only hit .222 with a .250 slugging percentage, with only one of his hits going for extra bases.

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April struggles bring May power.

However, Bregman’s bat has come back in May. With a .272 batting average, he has a .511 slugging percentage with 11 of his 25 hits going for extra bases. He has developed a home run swing as well, hitting all five of his home runs this season during the month of May.

Bregman’s power potential has really shown up in the last two games against the Minnesota Twins. In his last eight at-bats, he hast four hits, with two home runs, driving in four RBIs and scoring himself three times. These last two games raised his slugging percentage from .375 on May 27^th to .415.

To the Astros delight, Bregman is using his power to help with runners in scoring position. He is hitting .385 with a .641 slugging percentage. In those situations, he has five extra-base hits, including two home runs, driving in 15 RBIs and scoring himself 17 times.

Deep lineup.

With the amount of depth the Astros have offensively, Bregman has a lot of opportunities with runners in scoring position with a spot in the back end of the starting lineup. He has driven in 10 of his 18 RBIs in the eight-spot. With the quick turnaround to the top of the lineup, Bregman has scored himself ten times in that role as well.

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The power uptick in the month of May just is the start for Bregman. So far this season, his fly ball percentage and line drive percentage have both decreased with his ground ball percentage increasing by 9.9 points.

The bottom of the lineup for this Houston Astros offense is, arguably, one of the more valuable spots to be in all of baseball. With the amount of depth, there are many opportunities to drive in runners as well as scoring yourself with the quick turnaround to guys like George Springer, Jose Altuve, and Carlos Correa.

Next: Astros roster shuffle: Musgrove goes on the DL and Guduan up

Bregman is not your prototypical back of the lineup batter. His offensive potential is off the charts. However, he has the chance to continue to make an impact in a very valuable spot.

***Stats provided by FanGraphs and MLB.com***