GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
BATON ROUGE – Boston Red Sox All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman leads a contingent of five former LSU players in the 2025 Major League Baseball playoffs that begin on Tuesday.
The other four former LSU stars are all right-handed pitchers – Aaron Nola of the Philadelphia Phillies, Kevin Gausman of the Toronto Blue Jays, Alex Lange of the Detroit Tigers and Paul Gervase of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
ALEX BREGMAN CAME THROUGH IN CLUTCH FOR ASTROS
Bregman, who was the second pick of the 2015 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros and made his debut in 2016, played on eight consecutive playoff teams with Houston from 2017-24. He won a World Series title in 2017 over the Los Angeles Dodgers, but two years later, it was proven that the Astros won that one by cheating through stolen signs via cameras all season.
He helped Houston win a legitimate World Series title in 2022 over Philadelphia. Bregman played in two other World Series with Houston in 2019 and 2021 in which Washington and Atlanta won.
Whataseries for Alex Bregman in his first return to Houston as a player for Boston, which doesn’t have Whataburgers.https://t.co/Dlha8f3GSk
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) August 14, 2025
Meanwhile, Houston did not make the playoffs this season for the first time since 2016, snapping an eight-year run all with Bregman. So, did Houston fall victim to the Bregman Curse? The Astros did not offer Bregman a long-term contract deal after last season, so he signed with Boston.
Karma can be a bee-och.
Bregman was a two-time All-Star with the Astros and was the 2018 All-Star Game most valuable player. He hit .273 for Boston this season with 18 home runs, 62 RBIs, 28 doubles and 64 runs scored and was an All-Star Game selection for the third time in his career.
Boston and Bregman will play at the New York Yankees in an American League Wild Card series opener on Tuesday (5 p.m., ESPN).
In the other American League Wild Card playoff game Tuesday, Detroit will play at Cleveland (Noon, ESPN).
In the National League Wild Card playoffs Tuesday, San Diego will play at the Chicago Cubs (2 p.m., ABC), and Cincinnati will play at the Los Angeles Dodgers (8 p.m., ESPN).
Toronto and Philadelphia received first-round byes and will begin the playoffs on Saturday in the best-of-seven Divisional Series rounds. AL East champion Toronto will face the Red Sox-Yankees winner. NL East champion Philadelphia will play the Reds-Dodgers winner on Saturday.
A total of 45 former Tigers have been a part of MLB playoff teams since 1990, and 15 former LSU players have been members of World Series Championship teams in that span.
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