Brian McTaggart, Astros beat reporter for MLB.com, joins The Matt Thomas Show with Ross to discuss the Astros securing their fourth consecutive American League West title with Tuesday's 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners. The Astros are now locked into the AL's No. 3 seed in the Wild Card Series.
The final regular-season home game Wednesday afternoon saw Alex Bregman start at third base. However, in the fourth inning, manager Joe Espada removed Bregman from the game to receive an ovation from the fans at Minute Maid Park in what could be his final regular-season home game with the Astros. "I thought it was a nice moment," McTaggart said. "This could be it... It will be weird next year if [Bregman] won't be here."
The Astros selected Bregman with the No. 2 pick in the 2015 MLB draft, with Bregman making his debut a year later. As a two-time All-Star who helped the Astros earn their first two World Series championships, Bregman has "taken on a huge leadership role."
Bregman is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and while general manager Dana Brown has said he will engage agent Scott Boras with talks of an extension, "it's hard to imagine [Bregman's] going to stay with the Astros," especially with the organization's history of not retaining homegrown players, such as Carlos Correa and George Springer.
The Astros final series of the regular season starts Friday in Cleveland, and Yordan Alvarez will not be with the team. Alvarez is recovering from a sprained right knee, and even if he returns in time for the Wild Card Series, he will most likely not play left field for perhaps the entire playoff run. "They do have a whole week to rest him."
The best-of-three AL Wild Card Series begins Tuesday at Minute Maid Park, and McTaggart expects Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown and Yusei Kikuchi to lead the postseason rotation in that order. "That's a pretty tough 1-2-3."