HOUSTON -- Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, who’s been on the injured list since straining his left quadriceps June 16 while running the bases, was brimming with optimism when he met with reporters prior to Monday’s game against the Orioles to provide an update on his progress.

“I was pretty crushed at first, but real optimistic [about] how we’re progressing,” he said.

There’s still no firm timetable on when Bregman could return, though he admitted it won’t be before the All-Star break. Bregman ran on flat ground Monday for the first time since suffering the injury. He had been running on a treadmill as part of his rehab process.

“We’ll see how we react from that,” he said. “I’ll know more later tonight on how the healing’s going, get a look at it again on the ultrasound to make sure the healing‘s going as planned. But things are going really, really, really well.”

Bregman said his recovery is “way ahead” of where he thought he would be at this point, which is why he was so much more optimistic than he was shortly after he was hurt. He said he could swing the bat and throw right now but doesn’t want to create bad habits.

“I’ve been down that road before where you started to swing a little bit, and I didn’t really feel great mechanically after because I wasn’t using my body how I liked to use it,” he said.

Bregman has dealt with soft tissue injuries to his legs for the last couple of years. Last year, he missed 17 games after straining his right hamstring while running the bases Aug. 19 in Colorado. He strained his right hamstring in April 2019 and missed two games. In September 2016 -- at the end of his rookie year -- he missed two weeks after straining his hamstring running the bases.

“I just want to feel normal again for the first time in two years,” he said. “We’re working on a lot of things. Not only addressing the quad, but we’re working on just like full lower body alignment and stuff like that -- my pelvis, my hips -- getting everything squared away to be in [a] position to never have to deal with this stuff again.”

Unlike last year, when the Astros went 7-10 without Bregman while he was out with a hamstring strain, they have gone 9-2 without him entering Monday.

“It’s awesome to see,” he said. “It’s definitely motivating. It’s been fun to watch. Would be a lot more fun to be out there playing and be a part of it. It’s been cool to see. It’s exactly what we believed we can do on a nightly basis. I think it’s right where we need to be.”