Astros' priority is keeping Tucker, Bregman healthy for stretch run

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HOUSTON -- The final three-plus weeks of the regular season figure to be juggling act for Astros manager Joe Espada when it comes to the playing time of right fielder Kyle Tucker and third baseman Alex Bregman, both of whom have an ailment that may not be completely healed until the end of the season.

Tucker was activated from the injured list prior to Friday’s game against the D-backs after missing three months with a right shin fracture, suffered when he fouled a ball off it on June 3. He was in the lineup at designated hitter for the series opener and went 0-for-2 with a walk, but the Astros will have to monitor his playing time going forward.

Seven other players started a game in right field this year, including in-season acquisitions Ben Gamel and Jason Heyward.

Meanwhile, Bregman has been dealing with right elbow inflammation for the last three weeks, which has kept him out of the lineup several times. He missed five games in a row (Aug. 16-20) and four games in a row (Aug. 30-Sept. 2), while starting three other games at DH. Bregman wasn’t in the lineup on Friday against Arizona.

“He’s a bit sore today, but he’s doing well,” Espada said. “We’re trying to monitor the volume of games in a row, but he’s actually feeling well.”

What complicates the matter for Espada is the fact the club wants to limit how much slugger Yordan Alvarez plays in left field. On the days he starts at DH, that’s a spot Tucker and/or Bregman won’t be able to play.

“It requires a lot of discipline because we have [21] games left and I want those guys in there, but at the same time, we want them out there healthy,” Espada said. “The goal is to have them playing back-to-back games ... so that’s going to require a little bit of time and patience, and us being smart about how to do it and when to do it.”

In a perfect world, the Astros would give Tucker and Bregman as much rest as they needed before the postseason, but the American League West standings say otherwise. The Astros (76-65) have a 4 1/2-game lead over the Mariners (72-70), while still trying to chase the AL Central-leading Guardians (81-60) for the second seed in the AL playoffs, which would come with a bye into the AL Division Series.

Espada is acutely aware of the standings -- and what manager isn’t in the month of September? -- but his top goal is making sure Bregman and Tucker can stay on the field.

“That’s where I’m at every day postgame, pregame, just making sure these guys are healthy and good to go,” he said.

If the Astros make the playoffs and mount another deep postseason run, they will play, at most, three consecutive days. That could possibly happen three times -- all three games of the AL Wild Card Series, Games 3-5 of the AL Championship Series and World Series Games 3-5. That would be a good problem to have.

For now, Espada just hopes his middle-of-the-order bats can play more consistently.

“Where I could just write the lineup [with] them on back-to-back days without worrying about how they feel the next day, that’s where we want to be,” the skipper said. “Is that going to happen in the next week? I hope so.

"But that might not be the case until they both feel good postgame and it hasn’t been the case, yet. Hopefully, we get to that point in the near future.”