Alex Bregman

Alexander David Bregman, born March 30, 1994, is a third baseman for the Chicago Cubs. He previously played for the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox. Bregman grew up in Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights and is Jewish, attending Congregation Albert. At 13, his Bar Mitzvah speech expressed a goal to become a professional athlete who plays for love of the game, never quits, and serves as a role model.

His parents, Sam and Jackie, are lawyers who met in law school. Sam Bregman has chaired the Democratic Party of New Mexico and is currently the District Attorney of Bernalillo County. He also played baseball as a freshman at the University of New Mexico, as did Bregman’s uncle Ben; both moved to Albuquerque on baseball scholarships. Sam was a part-owner of the NBA Development League’s New Mexico Thunderbirds starting in 2006.

Bregman’s mother converted to Judaism from Catholicism. His paternal grandfather, Stan Bregman, was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, served as general counsel for the Washington Senators from the late 1960s until the team’s 1971 move to Texas, and helped hire Ted Williams as general manager. Stan attended all of Bregman’s high school games. His great-grandfather Samuel “Bo” Bregman immigrated from Russia around 1900 at age 11 to escape anti-Jewish pogroms, married Sadie Hurwitz, promoted boxing cards featuring Joe Louis and others, and was part of the ownership group that moved the Boston Redskins to Washington, D.C. Bregman has two younger siblings, Jessica and Anthony (A.J.), who was drafted by the Astros in the 35th round of the 2018 MLB draft.

Bregman started tee-ball at age four, turning an unassisted triple play in his first game. He was a batboy for the University of New Mexico baseball team and, in 2004, for a game against Arizona State, where his favorite player Dustin Pedroia played. His best friend is Blake Swihart, a former MLB player with whom he played travel ball.

At Albuquerque Academy, Bregman primarily played catcher. As a freshman in 2009, he led his team to a state championship as a shortstop, batting .514 with three home runs, including one in the championship game that cleared Isotopes Park. In 2010, as a sophomore, he batted .564 for the gold-medal-winning 16-and-under USA National Team at the COPABE Pan American Championships in Mexico and was named MVP. That year, at 16, he became the first high school player to win the USA Baseball Richard W. “Dick” Case Player of the Year Award.

As a junior in 2011, he batted .678 and set a New Mexico season record with 19 home runs, earning first-team All-State, All-Metro, and All-District honors. That fall, he led the 18-and-under U.S. National Team to a gold medal at the International Baseball Federation World Championships. Projected as a first-round draft pick out of high school, he shattered the second knuckle on his throwing hand in the fifth game of his senior season while deflecting a bad-hop grounder with his bare hand, missing most of the year.

The Boston Red Sox drafted him in the 29th round of the 2012 MLB draft as a second baseman, but he had made clear he would only sign if taken in the first round, so he declined and enrolled at LSU.

At LSU, Bregman was named Baseball America’s 2013 National Freshman of the Year, won the 2013 Brooks Wallace Award as the country’s best college shortstop, and was a two-time All-American. The Houston Astros selected him with the second overall pick in the 2015 MLB draft. He debuted in MLB in 2016. In 2017, he was the youngest member of Team USA, which won the gold medal in the World Baseball Classic, and ended the season winning the World Series with the Astros. He was MVP of the 2018 All-Star Game and led the American League in doubles that year. In 2019, he was an All-Star again, led the AL in walks and WAR, and won the Silver Slugger Award at third base. He won his second World Series in 2022 and his first Gold Glove in 2024. As of 2024, he holds multiple postseason records for a third baseman, including home runs, RBIs, runs scored, putouts, and assists.