"Our offense leans on Alex Bregman heavily" - Astros manager Joe Espada praises All-Star 3B after dream run during team's unbeaten stretch

It has been a great week for the Houston Astros. They swept the Oakland Athletics, following their 2-1 series victory against the Detroit Tigers. With that, the Astros marked their 19th win of the series, ascending to third in the AL West.

On Thursday, the Astros won 8-1 against the A’s, with Christian Javier pitching a six-inning shutout game and Shawn Dubin finishing the rest with one earned run. Joey Loperfido went yards for the team’s early lead, while Alex Bregman (2-for-4) also contributed.

Joe Espada, the Astros manager, praised Bregman for his recent performances in the team’s win. He also reckoned the Astros are heavily dependent on him.

“He's the guy that's always looking for ways to make himself better, even though he's one of the best third basemen in the league, he's the guy that's always looking for ways to make himself better, even though he's one of the best third basemen in the league,” Espada said on MLB Network Radio.

“Our offense leans on him heavily. He's been one of the most important pieces to our lineup for many years, so it'd be fun watching the kid hitting balls in the gap and balls out of the ballpark, for sure.”

Bregman has contributed 19 RBIs, 13 runs and four home runs in 41 games this season. He has a stat line of .228 /.291/.361 while maintaining a .652 OPS. In his last five games, he has gone 8-for-19 with six RBIs and three home runs.

However, this year is Bregman’s final year of his five-year, $100 million extension. Scott Boras handles the negotiations as he prepares for his first free agency if the Astros don’t break their silence on extension talk before the season ends.

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Astros’ All-Star has been working on his swings, per MLB insider

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney on Monday, the Houston Astros two-time All-Star, Alex Bregman, is working on his swing to increase its velocity.

"We were doing that four times a week and tracking our velocities the entire offseason and we saw some really good improvements," Bregman told Olney.

"Troy told me if I improved (my exit velocities) it could really help with the power numbers because of my bat-to-ball skill and non-chasing."

It worked out well for Bregman, as he had multiple hits in four games, except for Wednesday where he remained hitless in three at-bats but scored an RBI in with a sac fly.

All eyes will be on the Astros as they welcome the Milwaukee Brewers at the Miniute Maiden Park for a three-game series. The Astros (19-25) will focus on getting their five-game winning streak alive, while the Brewers (26-17) will try to keep the NL Central’s top position.