WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — At the time on the baseball calendar when players often claim to be in the best shape of their lives, Alex Bregman has proof.
A before-and-after photo circulated on social media by his offseason gym in Houston, Dynamic Sports Training (DST), shows the physical transformation made by the Astros third baseman in only a three-month span. When he reported to spring training last week, it also quickly prompted ribbing from teammates.
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“You got really fat before you started working out,” Dallas Keuchel told him.
“I just wish that I could have a body like he could at such a young age,” Josh Reddick quipped.
“The guy put in work this offseason,” Jake Marisnick said, grinning. “Everybody’s got their own way of expressing it.”
Huge results from #DSTathlete & @astros 3B @abreg_1 this offseason training with @dst_houston 🙌🏼
Alex embodies being dedicated & relentless in his pursuit of greatness. We’re rooting for you this year, Alex! #DSTfamily #DSTstrong pic.twitter.com/yG3xvnXE1U
— DST Performance (@DST_Houston) February 15, 2018
Bregman, still only 23, is accustomed to being the subject of derision from veteran teammates in the Astros clubhouse. (“He just walks into it,” George Springer explained.) But this instance stemmed only from Bregman’s unrelenting desire to be elite. After experiencing in his first full major league season what it takes to play into November, the World Series Game 5 hero committed to a complete overhaul of his diet ahead of 2018.
“Before I’d eat like cheeseburgers and pizza for every meal and drink about eight Dr Peppers a day,” Bregman told The Athletic at Astros camp. “Since the World Series ended I’ve had zero Dr Peppers and hired a chef. Really, it’s turned into chicken and fish. About as healthy as you can get.”
Although he’s coming off the longest season (and thus the shortest offseason) of his life, Bregman arrived in West Palm Beach declaring he’s never felt more energized. He posits he still weighs the same as last year — about 200 pounds, he said, on his 5-foot-10 1/2 frame — but estimated he’s reduced his body fat from roughly 14 percent to between 8 and 10 percent.
Following the advice of teammate and reigning American League MVP Jose Altuve, Bregman made strengthening his core the other major component of his offseason. He hopes it will allow him to unlock more power and sustain it for a full season. In his mind, he should be hitting 30 to 35 home runs in a season. He had 19 last year — while recording an .827 OPS — plus four timely homers in October against three of baseball’s best pitchers.
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“I had a good year, but it wasn’t really good to my standards,” he said. “I had a good second half, played pretty decent in the postseason, but the first half was friggin’ terrible. It wasn’t like me at all. I want to be a great player in this game. I want to win (multiple) World Series. I want to be a star in this game. If I want to take my game to the next level I’ve got to take care of my body. If I want to play for 20 years I’ve got to take care of my body. That’s really what sparked it.”
A substandard first quarter of last season bogged down Bregman’s first-half numbers (.256/.338/.419). He didn’t hit his first home run until the Astros’ 38th game. His mechanics and swing decisions were inconsistent. The slow start can be traced to his lack of a spring training because of a World Baseball Classic in which he got just four at-bats for Team USA.
“I think if I could go back I would have stayed in camp,” Bregman said. “I was getting my spring training at-bats for the first month of the season. It wasn’t good. I was working on mechanical things the entire first half of the season and probably the month before the All-Star break I kind of got into a little bit of a groove and the extra-base hits and the average and the OPS all went up.”
Bregman batted .315/.367/.539 in the second half. In the postseason, his star grew. The former No. 2 overall pick homered twice off Chris Sale in the Division Series and once each off Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen in the World Series. His 10th-inning single against Jansen to walk off the epic Game 5 cemented his place in Astros lore.
Bregman said he decided to change his eating habits after “playing on fumes” in Game 6 of the World Series. As the Astros celebrated their first title, their two-hole hitter took just six days off. On Nov. 4, a day after the team paraded through downtown Houston, he appeared with Springer and Altuve on “Saturday Night Live” in New York City. Then there was a spot on “Good Morning America.” His media tour continued at ESPN’s studios in Bristol, Connecticut.
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If it were completely up to him, though, Bregman apparently would’ve started his offseason workout program even sooner.
“He called me at midnight the night before the parade,” said Kevin Poppe, who runs the DST branch Bregman frequented in the offseason. “He was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to come in (after the parade), do the assessment and everything like that. I was like, ‘No. No shot you’re doing that.'”
Bregman began preparing for this season on Nov. 8, as documented in the before-and-after photo. He compiled a nutrition plan with the assistance of Poppe, DST’s lead performance specialist, and hired local chef Sallie Lardy to come to his house twice a week and cook a week’s worth of healthy meals.
Bregman had three of his best friends, including LSU roommate and Astros minor league catcher Michael Papierski, move in with him in Houston for the offseason and they, too, followed the same program. The diet signified a complete 180 for Bregman, who used to drink so much Dr Pepper that teammates joked he downed the soda between innings instead of water or Gatorade.
“Dr Pepper. Potato chips. Candy,” Marisnick said. “Like I don’t think he ate a real meal, honestly.”
Now swap the junk food for kale and quinoa.
“It was an acquired taste,” Bregman said of his new diet. “We were all pissed off for the first week and miserable.”
In the middle of the offseason, Bregman texted photos of his grilled chicken and fish and videos of his work in the batting cage to Altuve to show his progress. During workouts, he focused on improving his hip placement because in the first half last season, he said, his hips spun off the baseball. A better hip load, he hopes, will lead to a more consistent bat path and set him up to hit more balls in the air. So should a more stable core.
“You can tell his body structure is different, just how lean he’s gotten and how strong he’s gotten,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “Anyone with social media got to see up close and personal the changes. So, he’s also not shy of showing you.”
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Teammates have complimented Bregman on his physique in recent days. “Man, that’s good,” a surprised Altuve said when Bregman texted him the before-and-after evidence. “The kid got big,” Carlos Correa remarked on their first day together in camp. “Or is he wearing a medium-sized shirt?”
They clearly also haven’t passed up the opportunity to give him a hard time. Any more shirtless pictures, Bregman was told, and he will end up in the Kangaroo Court fine box.
“He’s probably already in there for it,” Marisnick said.
(Top photo: AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)