MLB WORLD SERIES: ASTROS VS BRAVES

October 25, 2021

Alex Bregman

Minute Maid Park

Houston Astros

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Alex, you and Dansby will be forever linked. Is there any previous relationship with them? Any thoughts on their third baseman Austin Riley?

ALEX BREGMAN: First question, Dansby and I played together on Team USA. Had a blast playing with him, competed against him in college. He is a competitor, a winner, a great baseball player. Makes unbelievable plays at shortstop, as you saw the last one. He does a lot of things well on the baseball field.

One thing I have a lot of admiration for him about is taking an extra base. I've seen it a lot since he's been in the Big Leagues. A ball that everyone thinks is a single, he turns into a double. He's a winning baseball player, and he won National Championships at Vanderbilt. He's a really good teammate playing with him, and he's a guy that you want on a winning team.

As far as your second question, Riley's unbelievable. There's a reason why he's getting MVP chance in Atlanta. Unbelievable power. I definitely wish I had his arm at third base, and he's a really good player. They've got a really good left side of the infield. They've got a really good team. It's been fun to watch them play.

Just playing with Dansby, I know how much of a winner and good guy he is.

Q. When you got to the Big Leagues in '16 and Yuli came shortly after that, did you feel like the four of you guys with Jose and Carlos could be an infield that would have some staying power? How proud are you of just how good that infield's been for five years?

ALEX BREGMAN: Definitely very proud. It's an honor to compete with those guys on a daily basis. To be honest with you, in 2016, I was thinking about staying in the Big Leagues, to be honest with you. I was having a lot of fun. It was awesome to be able to play with those guys, such great guys, but at that point when we first started playing together, I was just trying to get a few hits.

Q. What does Charlie Morton mean to you and the teammates that played with you here? And what is it like to have to face him? Weird? Awkward? I know you've done it before as well now, but what is it like?

ALEX BREGMAN: Yeah, he got us good last year. Unbelievable guy, unbelievable teammate, got a great family. He's a great dad. It was an honor to play with him. I mean, he's had unbelievable success, especially in the postseason in big games.

Charlie's awesome. He's one of everybody's favorite teammates of all time. There's a reason because he's such a great guy.

Q. Dusty Baker is a legend in baseball. What's it like for him as a manager? He came right at a tough time for you guys?

ALEX BREGMAN: Dusty is a legend in the game. He's super smart, intelligent about the game. We pick his brain all the time and try and learn from him. He also is awesome. He's funny. He has a good time. It's been awesome getting to know him not only on a baseball level but on a personal level as well. It's been really fun to play for him.

Q. How did you respond when Troy came aboard, and what sort of philosophies of his have resonated with you and expanded your, I guess, hitting acumen since he's been here?

ALEX BREGMAN: This Troy (indicating), honestly, Troy is an extremely hard worker. I probably keep him too long in the cage over time. He works his tail off, and he's super smart and knowledgeable about the swing, about the human body and how it works.

I mean, we hit together every day. We've become really close friends as well. I mean, he's the man.

Q. As someone who's been in the organization since you came from college, if you talk to other players and from your experience here, what would you say are the attributes of the culture of the Astros organization that are set from top down?

ALEX BREGMAN: I would say that there's a lot of great people here. Players, coaches, people behind the scenes, trainers, club staff, everybody wants to get better. I think one big thing is always improvement. I think there's always room for improvement in this game. If you're not getting better, you're getting worse.

That's one thing that this organization does a good job of is identifying where your weaknesses are and trying to help you improve them.

Q. The legacy of 2017 has followed this team around for the last few years. How much would a win in this World Series would change that narrative?

ALEX BREGMAN: I'm not worried about narratives. I'm not worried about any of that. I want to win four games. I want to play good baseball with this team, to be honest with you. It's been an honor to suit up with my teammates and go compete and try and win baseball games.

To be honest with you, the only thing on my mind is execution. That's it. That's what postseason winning baseball is all about is execution. Not any other stuff.

Q. It's been a long time since you've faced the Braves. Aside from Charlie, what stands out about that staff?

ALEX BREGMAN: They have an elite staff all the way around. They're very good on the mound. They've got guys that throw super hard with super good off-speed stuff. They're a really tough rotation to face.

Q. Yuli won the batting title this year. As a teammate, what's the most impressive thing about him as a hitter?

ALEX BREGMAN: The real thing that they can do is hit the ball from line to line and hit multiple pitches from line to line. I think Yuli does a great job of using the whole field and driving the ball to right field or pulling the baseball, hitting pitches that are in, up, down, away, everything. His contact ability, and he's always inside the baseball.

Q. With Lance making it official he won't pitch in the World Series, just wondering what he's meant to this team and especially this month?

ALEX BREGMAN: He's meant so much to this team. He's a leader, and although he's not on the roster, he'll find a way to help guys out during this World Series run. He pitched his absolute tail off when we needed him against the White Sox. He's a competitor. It rubs off on everybody around him. He's a great teammate. I mean, he's meant so much to not only this team, but this city as well with everything that he's done to help people here in Houston.

Q. Kyle Tucker was up here, and he makes his opposite field power sound almost like an accident. How have you seen him develop that, and what do you appreciate about how hard that is to do that?

ALEX BREGMAN: Tuck can hit the ball like Yuli, from line to line. He's going to be a great player in this game for a long time. He's got power from all fields. He hits lefties as good as any lefty I've seen.

I think he's -- I don't know, he's strong. He's super strong, and he's got a really good base underneath him in the box. He doesn't really get off balance that much. He stays on his legs really well, I think.