On his first day of spring training with the Boston Red Sox, Alex Bregman introduced himself to a future that may not include him.
His manager, Alex Cora, strolled into the cafeteria at Fenway South in Fort Myers, Fla., and found Bregman there, holding court with the Red Sox’ top three prospects, 20-year-old outfielder Roman Anthony, 22-year-old second baseman Kristian Campbell and 22-year-old shortstop Marcelo Mayer.
In the days that followed, as people around the team began talking about Bregman’s commitment to the young players, Bregman, 30, talked about the young players.
“They love baseball,” he says—the highest compliment a man who forced Louisiana State to give him his own key to the batting cage as a college student can offer. “They love being at the field. They love talking baseball. They just love the game. They’re so focused and locked in on what they’re trying to do on a daily basis—it’s really fun to watch.”
If Bregman plays the way he expects to—not as the 308th best hitter in the sport, as he was for the first six weeks of last season, but the 20th, as he was the rest of the way—he may watch them from another dugout next year. The three-year, $120 million deal he signed last month allows him to opt out after either of the first two seasons.
But he says he is not thinking about an off-ramp. After nine years with the Houston Astros—where he won two World Series, reached another two and weathered, along with Cora, then the bench coach, a sign-stealing scandal—Bregman is trying to help build a winner in Boston.
“This is who he is,” says Cora. “A lot of people are like, ‘Wow, this guy!’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s who he is.’ I saw him in [20]17 and [he] was amazing. Obviously, we went through our stuff, right? And the thing that actually got my attention is he became the leader. Like, We have to turn a page. We’re still the Houston Astros and we’re good, regardless of the mistake we made in ’17. They proved it right, and he was the leader of it. There was no BS. Let’s focus on the right things. And that’s what he’s doing here. We’re focusing on the right things.”
What are the right things?
“Everything’s really baseball-related that we talk about,” says Campbell with a laugh. “I mean, it’s not, like, his deep, dark secrets, you know? It’s just, like, baseball. Like, it’s all baseball. Baseball, baseball, baseball.”
Sometimes that means asking to ride the bus two hours to Sarasota—an assignment veterans are usually spared—to give him extra bonding time with the prospects. Sometimes that means helping a young player develop a pregame routine that works for him. Sometimes that means approaching pitchers and telling them what he saw against them as their opponent.
“Just kind of bridging gaps and keeping communication levels high,” says righty Lucas Giolito. “I think that’s huge.” This will be Giolito’s second season in Boston and 10th in the majors, with five different teams; never before, he says, he has encountered such a united team, a change he credits to Bregman and fellow import Walker Buehler, a righty who spent his first seven seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Usually cliques develop within a clubhouse, usually based on position,” Giolito says. “So it’s, like, starting pitchers hanging out together and relievers, and position guys. I’m not seeing so much of that. I think Bregman and Walker brought a lot of that good culture from winning organizations, kind of tearing down those types of walls that can be built up in a more disillusioned clubhouse.”
Bregman has never been in quite this situation before—trying to be a leader to a group of strangers—but the coaching staff expects him to figure it out. They placed him in a locker on the side of the clubhouse typically reserved for prospects, so he’s surrounded by the Big Three. The team believes the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft has a lot to offer this group.
“There’s only a few guys in this clubhouse that can say that they were the Roman Anthonys and Marcelo Mayers in the past,” says Cora, adding, “With the expectations coming out of the draft and all that stuff and the spotlight right away when they make it to the big leagues.”
Bregman’s approach to ingratiating himself with his new teammates is simple, he says: “I think you show up and you work hard, you post, you play, you’re consistent with your work, you’re consistent with your preparation. And just communicate well.” He sidestepped a potential early controversy when incumbent third baseman Rafael Devers said he would not consider moving to designated hitter to accommodate Bregman, the superior defender at the hot corner. “Third base is my position,” Devers said.
That would likely leave Bregman, last year’s Gold Glove winner at third, at second base. He shrugs. “I’ll play wherever they want,” he says. “I just want to win.”
He believes he can do that in Boston. “I like the focus,” he says. “I like the effort level here. It’s been incredible.”
Some of that starts with him. Early in camp, Cora hosted the veterans for dinner and drinks at his home. Almost immediately, Bregman found himself in the center of the group, talking baseball for nearly five hours. “I had to kick him out,” says Cora with a laugh. Bregman could have stayed there all night. He’s acting like he might just stay here forever.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Alex Bregman Is Already Helping the Red Sox’ Present and Future.
