Alex Bregman shared good and not-so-good news after the Red Sox defeated the visiting Colorado Rockies 9-3 on Monday night.

“Everything’s going good,” he said as he stood in the clubhouse at Fenway. “Last week I touched high velocity three days in a row. Running-wise got a lot of volume in, so trending towards a return here really quickly. Whether it’s end of this week or first game after the break, one of those two, but hoping it’ll be the end of this week … I think we still have to have another discussion tomorrow, but I feel like I can go and play, be ready to go.”

When Bregman went down with a quad strain during the 2021 season, it cost him 10 weeks. This Friday will mark seven weeks since Bregman exited the top of an Orioles doubleheader, and was diagnosed with the same injury.

Asked what’s given him the confidence to push for a significantly earlier return, he smiled.

“My leg feels really good, and I swung the bat really well today,” said Bregman, eliciting a few chuckles. “And I just — I don’t know. I feel like I can do it … I’m feeling really good. Rehab has gone amazing.”

The plan for his return is to “kind of take it day by day,” especially in the likely event that he doesn’t go on a rehab assignment. It would be a first, though Bregman hasn’t spent much time on the injured list in his 10-year career; he played at least 145 games in six of his eight 162-game seasons before signing with the Red Sox in February.

“I think there is going to be some sort of buildup,” he said. “I don’t think we’re just going to go, just play every day the rest of the year right away.”

The suboptimal, though not entirely surprising update was that other than perhaps taking his son, Knox, to the Home Run Derby, Bregman probably won’t participate in his third career All-Star Game next week.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “With just the timing of everything, I think what I need to do is hopefully be back playing by the end of this week, and use the All-Star break to continue to build up and work on my leg and make sure that we just continue the progression the right way.

“So, that was a lot of words to say, I don’t think I’m going to play … I’ll be focused on my rehab still, and hopefully it won’t be rehab at that point. Hopefully it’ll be like, just maintaining, continuing to be active at that point.”

Even so, Bregman made it clear how much it means to be named an All-Star this year, calling his third career nod a “tremendous honor.”

“To be selected by my peers, I felt like was a huge honor, and just super appreciative and a lot of hard work has gone into it,” he said. “First selection since 2019, so six years. So super pumped and just honored to be selected by my peers.”

Rookie optioned

Fresh off his long-awaited first big-league win, righty starter Richard Fitts was optioned to Triple-A in a Tuesday afternoon pitching shakeup.

In exchange, the Red Sox called up reliever Isaiah Campbell. It’s a strategic move, as the club plans to activate rookie Hunter Dobbins later this week. With Dobbins likely taking Fitts’ spot in the rotation, but the next turn not until Saturday, this roster move creates a path for the Red Sox to add a fresh arm to the bullpen in the meantime.

“For now, this makes sense,” said manager Alex Cora. “(Bullpen) usage the last few days, certain guys it’s been up there.”

Sending Fitts down was the first of several tough decisions the Red Sox will make in the coming days. Masataka Yoshida should be activated Wednesday, and Bregman could be back this weekend. The Red Sox are deeper than they’ve been in years, a good problem to have.

“This is the nature of the roster,” Cora said. “Fittsy, he won yesterday. His first big-league win, and we optioned him. It seems like the roster is a lot better than the last two years and last year, and now this is what it’s all about. Make decisions based on what we need up here, and understanding that there’s gonna be guys, if something happens, they’re going to be ready to come back and contribute.”

The returns of Yoshida and Bregman create new questions for the Red Sox to answer. The outfield, already full with Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Roman Anthony and Rob Refsnyder, will add Yoshida to the mix part-time. (Cora said he envisions Yoshida “mostly” at DH.)

Abreu primarily plays right field, where he won the Gold Glove last year as a rookie. Rafaela has center on lock; he entered Tuesday tied for the MLB lead among outfielders with 14 Outs Above Average, second in Defensive Runs Saved (13), and leading the AL in assists.

Anthony has played more in right since making his debut, but worked out in left on Tuesday. Cora said Anthony could start in left on Wednesday, and clarified where the rookie will hit moving forward.

“Roman is going to hit second or third in our lineup,” the Sox skipper said.

Bregman’s return complicates the infield, where Marcelo Mayer, Nate Eaton, Abraham Toro and Romy Gonzalez have each covered a mix of first, second and third. Notably, Cora didn’t want to discuss Mayer.

“We’ll have to wait, make decisions, and I can answer that question later,” he said.

Campbell wasn’t on the 40-man roster, so the Red Sox transferred Liam Hendriks (hip inflammation) to the 60-day injured list to clear a spot. Unlike optioning Fitts, it wasn’t a strategic decision. The veteran reliever had a setback in his rehab work Monday, and will get a second opinion.

“It wasn’t good yesterday,” Cora said. “He said that the harder he pushed, he felt it. So now, I don’t want to say we’re back to square one, but they’ll talk and seek other opinions and see what happens.”