Alex Bregman wears No. 2 in part because Diamondbacks didn't draft him No. 1

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Sunday, September 16, 2018

Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman still isn't over the fact that the Arizona Diamondbacks passed over him in the 2015 MLB draft.

"I was super-happy to come to a good organization like the Astros, an organization that was up-and-coming," Bregman told The Arizona Republic on Saturday. "But, yeah, I was pissed. I wanted to be the No. 1 overall pick. Part of the reason I wear No. 2 is because of that."

Bregman previously said he wore No. 2 in part to honor childhood idol and former New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter.

The Diamondbacks chose Dansby Swanson in the 2015 draft and never really considered Bregman, who won a World Series with the Astros last season and was named to his first All-Star Game this summer, in which he was named the MVP. Swanson was traded to the Atlanta Braves in the 2015 offseason without ever playing a major league game for the Diamondbacks.

Bregman told the newspaper that he had a chance to join the Diamondbacks out of high school in 2012. They had reached out to see if he would sign as a second-round pick, but he told the club he was going to LSU instead. With the Tigers, he wore the No. 30 -- for the number of teams that passed on him in Round 1, Bregman said.

The 24-year-old has had some success trying to pay the Diamondbacks back on the field. He is 8-for-32 against them in his career with one home run and two RBIs. He was 1-for-2 and scored a run in Saturday's 10-4 Astros win.