Alex Bregman could be back much sooner than the Red Sox initially thought when their star third baseman went down with a quad strain in Game 1 of a May 23 doubleheader.

His latest ultrasound was promising, he announced in the Red Sox clubhouse on Friday afternoon.

“That showed that it was doing really well in healing, healing the way we wanted it to,” Bregman said of the testing, “so just continuing the progression and getting it stronger, and picking up the running volume, and it’s moving in the right direction.”

“The biggest thing for this is just building running volume and running capacity to where I can be able to withstand going 4-for-4 with two doubles off the wall that I gotta get to second on,” he said. “So once I build up to that running volume and that capacity, I’ll be ready to go.”

While Bregman didn’t want to announce a specific date, he expressed hope he could be back before the MLB All-Star break, which begins July 14. It would be a significantly faster turnaround than 2021, when he suffered a left-quad strain on June 16 and missed about 10 weeks before returning to the Houston Astros’ lineup on Aug. 25.

“I don’t know, maybe some good luck,” Bregman said when asked why the recovery seemed to be moving faster this time. “Overall this one’s been healing much faster, which is maybe not what I would have predicted from the beginning, but it has been, and just super thankful.”

After beginning his running progression late last week, Bregman said he’s “running up to like 50 percent” and working out in the gym, and trying to strengthen his leg every day.

“We’re basically rehabbing for 12 hours a day,” the veteran infielder said, explaining he arrives at the ballpark around 11 a.m. each day and works until game’s end. “I’m trying to get back on the field as fast as possible, help this team win baseball games.”

The Red Sox were 27-26 through Bregman’s last game; they entered Friday 7-10 since. He was in the midst of a tremendous spring before the injury halted what otherwise would’ve been his third All-Star selection and first since 2019. Through 51 games, he’s slashed .299/.385/.553 with 59 hits, 17 doubles, 11 home runs, 32 runs and 35 RBI.

“It’s definitely tough, you never want to be hurt,” he said of being on the sidelines, especially while the team has struggled, “but there’s only one thing to do and (it’s) kind of just put all your focus into the rehab and getting back as fast as you possibly can and as healthy as you possibly can so you can maintain that the rest of the way.”

“He’s in a good spot mentally,” manager Alex Cora told reporters shortly after. “He made some progress, but I don’t want to jump the gun and start thinking ahead, you know.”

Notably, Bregman said he wasn’t sure if he would go on a rehab assignment before coming off the injured list.

“I don’t even know if there will be one,” he said. “There might be, there might not be. I’m not too positive, but we’ll see.”

Asked if Bregman would need a rehab assignment, Cora said, “We got ways for him to get at-bats here. We’ll get there when we get there.”

Rehab assignment for Houck?

Tanner Houck will “most likely” begin a rehab assignment next Wednesday or throw another up-and-down first and go at week’s end, Cora announced in his pregame media session on Friday afternoon.

“Overall I feel a lot better with the body, delivery, arm especially,” Houck said after his up-and-down on Friday. “I feel a lot stronger and able to execute my pitches. … All in all, I feel good with where I’m at and feel strong and ready to go.”

“He feels really good about it,” Cora said after watching the right-hander. “Good fastball, good breaking ball, good split. … Hopefully he bounces back the right way.”

After pitching to a 3.12 ERA over a career-high 30 starts and earning his first All-Star selection last season, Houck has struggled mightily this year. Before the Red Sox placed him on the 15-day injured list with a right flexor pronator strain on May 14 (retroactive to May 13), he posted an 8.04 ERA and 1.695 WHIP over his first nine starts.

Houck said he began feeling the injury “a little bit starting in spring training,” but said he wanted to pitch and was able to do so until it “flared up a little bit more than feels comfortable or what felt comfortable,” and he decided it was “time to take a step back.”

“Just wasn’t quite recovering in the same way that I know my body should,” he said of his bounce-back between starts. “At this point in my career I know where I get sore … I’m a shoulder soreness kind of guy in the back of the shoulder, (scapula) region and for me to get sore in the elbow like that, it’s just not normal.”

Asked if he thought the injury fueled Houck’s rough start to the season, Cora said the righty “didn’t talk too much about it.”

“We pitched him every five days,” the skipper said. “Maybe toward the end it affected him, but early in the season we thought he was 100 percent — I mean, close to 100 percent, of course, and he just needed to make adjustments.”

Houck also pushed back against the suggestion that the injury caused his tumultuous start to the season, explaining that with Hypermobility — a condition in which joints are abnormally flexible — it’s more common for his delivery to get “out of whack.”

The situation took a toll on Houck mentally and emotionally, too.

“This is what I love to do. I’m all smiles on my face ’cause I got to throw off the mound today,” he said. “That’s what I’ve loved to do since I first stepped on a mound at nine years old, and every time I get to do that I’m a kid in a candy store.”

Abreu back soon

When Wilyer Abreu went on the injured list earlier this week with a left oblique strain, the Red Sox initially believed he’d only need the minimum 10 days before he’d be ready to return. Now it appears increasingly likely that will be the case.

Abreu resumed swinging on Friday, which Cora previously indicated would be the key checkpoint for the outfielder to reach before he began ramping back up for game action. Barring any setbacks the hope now is he’ll be activated ahead of next weekend’s series against the Giants, which begins on Friday, June 20.

Extra innings

Masataka Yoshida (right shoulder labral repair) has also taken a step in his throwing progression, throwing from the outfield to second base during the Thursday off-day at a heightened intensity … Right-hander Liam Hendriks (right hip inflammation) is playing catch, through fellow right-hander Justin Slaten (right shoulder inflammation) remains shut down. … First baseman Ryan Noda, who was designated for assignment by the Red Sox earlier this week, has been claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox.