How Alex Bregman has tried to help top Red Sox prospects since arriving as a free agent
Bregman spent time "marinating" about baseball with top prospects Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer.
Overtly, Alex Bregman is off to a good start with the Red Sox since signing in Boston as a free agent in February.
The 31-year-old third baseman is hitting .304 with 10 home runs and a .949 OPS, helping to justify (at least initially) the three-year deal worth $120 million.
But beyond the regular statistical contributions, Bregman is also helping to make the Red Sox better through his constant, ongoing obsession with baseball.
In a recent feature for ESPN, baseball insider Jeff Passan explored Bregman’s early impact in Boston.
“His energy is very contagious,” Red Sox first baseman Abraham Toro told Passan of Bregman. “He’s always talking about baseball. Even when the game’s over, he’s talking about baseball. And it makes you want to get better.”
Toro was also a teammate of Bregman’s over multiple years with the Astros (who Bregman played for during his entire MLB career prior to signing with the Red Sox).
The now-veteran Bregman interestingly compared himself to two of Boston’s higher-rated younger players. It was derived from a moment in spring training, when top Red Sox prospects Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer approached him with an idea.
“Hey, bro, do you just want to marinate in the clubhouse and talk shop?” asked Mayer, his question falling naturally within the vernacular of a 22-year-old. Bregman was flattered that the younger players would seek his counsel.
“It made me laugh,” he told Passan, “because, like, ‘marinate in the clubhouse and talk shop’ — it sounds like me when I was 21. All I wanted to do is just sit in the clubhouse for four hours after a game and talk about baseball.”
The two-time World Series winner did spend time “marinating” with Anthony and Mayer on the subject of baseball. He also reportedly bought them (along with a “host of other top Red Sox prospects”) tailored suits to help them integrate more smoothly into a big league environment.
And when the contingent of younger players gave him a hard time during spring training about participating in Grapefruit League games, Passan noted how Bregman road the bus with Anthony and Mayer over the 90-minute journey from Fort Myers to Sarasota.
Whatever else his impact, Bregman is putting his best foot forward when it comes to the most basic component of his presence on the Red Sox roster: Hitting. Though it’s clearly still early in the season, he’s already well above averages over recent years (his OPS from 2020-2024 was .795, well off the current .949 pace he’s on in 2025).
“Honestly,” Bregman concluded, “I feel like this has been the best I’ve hit in my career.”
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