‘We should be playing a lot better': One-on-one with new Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman

Boston Globe

24-05-2025

A.
It's been good. The season hasn't started out the way we wanted; we should be playing a lot better. But I've enjoyed getting to know this group. It was exciting to make a change. I've liked it.
Q.
You had another son early in the season. How has the family side of things been?
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A.
Busy. We haven't had a chance to see the city as much as we've wanted to. But we've been to a few restaurants. Arya [in the North End] is a great spot.
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Happy baby, healthy baby. Mom is happy. But no more zone defense, man-to-man now. Watching Knox [his oldest] be a big brother has been awesome.
Q.
You had played at Fenway Park many times. How have you found the atmosphere being with the Sox now?
A.
That part has been awesome, really electric. There's so much history and tradition. You can really feel it when you get that energy being the home team.
Q.
Would you want to play in the World Baseball Classic next year?
A.
I haven't heard from them but I've been fortunate to play for Team USA five times now. We'll see what happens. Hopefully I stay healthy and I can make it. It would be cool to do it again.
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Q.
This winter was your first time in free agency and it took a while
A.
It was different than I expected, the timing with everything. But overall it was good and I felt like it was a good process. It was really cool to talk to organizations about what they thought about me as a player.
There were some teams I knew nothing about and some I knew only a little bit about. Learning about them was interesting.
Alex Bregman has hit the ground running in Boston.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
Q.
Wilyer Abreu was a prospect when you were in Houston. Did you know him at all?
A.
Q.
Your dad [
Sam Bregman
] is running for governor of New Mexico. Are you involved in his campaign?
A.
No, not at all. I'm just focused on baseball.
Q.
You have
A.
I would go to the races in Albuquerque with my grandfather [
Stanley
] and watch the horses together. He passed when I was a sophomore in college. It was one of those things that bonded us.
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He represented
Hank Allen
when they were playing. When Hank was done playing, he started training horses and he named one of them Barrister Bregman after my grandfather.
Baseball guys just love horse racing. I think it's one of the most fun sports in the world. We have six or seven horses who are on the track now. They run in Kentucky, New York, and Florida.
Q.
When you were a kid, did you want to be a baseball player?
A.
I did, probably since I was 5. That was all I wanted to do. It's similar to how my son is; he's obsessed with it. I've been obsessed with it since I was that age.
My dad used to come home from work and bring baseball cards and we'd play in the back yard for hours every day. So what I'm doing now, that's all I ever wanted to do.
THROWING SMOKE
Chapman video pays tribute to Tiant
Befitting his status as a seven-time All-Star closer,
Aroldis Chapman
has
The best part? It includes a tribute to fellow Cuban
Luis Tiant
.
Back in 2011, Red Sox Productions was working with Black Helicopter Creative and experimenting with high-speed cameras. During spring training, they shot footage of Tiant lighting up a cigar in super slow motion.
The film went unused for 14 years until Sox senior vice president
Sarah McKenna
had the idea to include it in the Chapman video.
The video opens with Tiant enjoying his cigar in a cloud of smoke. As the
Celia Cruz
salsa classic, 'La Vida Es Un Carnaval' plays, Chapman is shown holding a Cuban flag.
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The video also includes clips of Chapman pitching interspersed with salsa dancers.
'I like a lot,' Chapman said via an interpreter. 'They asked me what I thought and of course I approved.'
Chapman met Tiant in 2009 when he tried out for the Red Sox after defecting from Cuba. It wasn't until several years later that he came to understand just how good Tiant was.
'In Cuba, there was no publicity about the major leagues or major league players when I was younger,' Chapman said. 'That's how the government wanted it. I didn't know anything about him.'
Tiant's 229 regular-season victories are the most for a pitcher from Cuba. Chapman has the most saves with 343.
'I'm glad to be mentioned with him,' Chapman said. 'Playing [in Boston]. I have learned more.'
Tiant,
'The truth is no one person can be credited with the final product because it was a true collaboration,' McKenna said. 'We are just glad we took the time to sit Luis down and capture that perfect moment.'
Red Sox rookie Kristian Campbell has looked overmatched at the plate.
Brett Phelps for The Boston Globe
A few other observations on the Red Sox:
⋅
Kristian Campbell
did not hit well in spring training, but the Red Sox convinced themselves he was ready based on batted-ball data and the efficacy of his swing.
Then they waited only a few days into the season to give Campbell
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That all looked brilliant for a few weeks. Now what?
Campbell has been overmatched at the plate the last month and has been one of the worst second basemen in the league defensively. At the same time, the Sox are trying to prepare him
He looks like a player who needs to unplug and spend some time in Triple A. Maybe that's how you get
Marcelo Mayer
to the majors.
Related
:
⋅ The news that
Liam Hendriks
and his wife were
It should not be difficult for police to track down a few of these cretins and make examples of them. Leagues should be doing more to protect their players.
⋅ There's at least some chance the Mets and Red Sox could meet in the World Series, so file this away:
Walker Buehler
and
Francisco Lindor
have a little feud going.
It goes back to
Then on Tuesday at Fenway, Lindor subtly leaned into a pitch in the third inning to get on base. Buehler complained to umpire
Mike Estabrook
to no avail.
Later in the inning, Estabrook missed a strike thrown to
Juan Soto
and
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'Throw him out!' Lindor kept shouting.
Lindor was laughing about it a day later.
'Buehler is great, man. He is nasty,' Lindor said. 'He's one of the best-paid pitchers for a reason. He's an All-Star and a great competitor. When I face him, it's fun.'
No animosity?
'I got nothing against Buehler. I'm a lover,' Lindor said. 'But I wanted him out of the game. It put them at a disadvantage.'
Buehler was asked if he had any comment.
'I better not,' he said.
⋅
Kyle Schwarber
hit his 300th career home run this past week. He's one of only 162 players to reach that mark.
466 FT later!
THIS angle of Kyle Schwarber's 300th career homer! 🔥
— MLB (@MLB)
Much like
Adrian Beltré
, Schwarber is one of those one-and-done Red Sox players who left you wondering what might have been had he stayed. But there was no clean fit at the end of the 2021 season with
J.D. Martinez
still under contract.
Still, an argument can be made that once you find a player who is comfortable in Boston and whose presence and example elevates the play of his teammates, you find a way.
The Phillies signed Schwarber for four years and $79 million and that's been a bargain. They lived with his poor defense in left field for two seasons and reaped the rewards of his power.
The Phillies have played 34 postseason games since acquiring Schwarber. The Sox haven't played in any. Obviously, that's not all because of one player, but it's part of why one franchise has flourished and the other has fallen.
⋅
D'Angelo Ortiz
, David's son, had a .764 OPS in his first 12 games for the Red Sox in the Florida Complex League. He has been playing mostly first base.
ETC.
'Skipper' looks at evolution of managers
Managers once ruled their teams with an iron fist, deciding lineups and strategy only with the help of their coaches.
The game has evolved into more of a collaborative effort in the last decade with the front office wielding greater influence on in-game decisions.
In his excellent new book, '
Scott Miller
dives into that shift and how the game has changed.
Miller, who has covered baseball for 38 years as both a beat writer and columnist, learned that the job is more complex than it ever has been.
'It's almost like game management is secondary,' Miller said. 'That element of surprise you got from
Sparky Anderson
or
Tom Kelly
— a squeeze bunt or a hit-and-run — is missing.
'But at the same time, managers have to wear so many hats. It's such a complex job. The influx of Ivy Leaguers into the game has changed the way the game is run. They want to have input and they do.'
Miller brought up the example of
Mike Scioscia
, who managed the Angels for 19 seasons. He determined the team's style of play and often dictated roster moves and acquisitions to fit that style.
'I don't know that we're going to see anybody anytime soon that's going to last that long in one spot,' Miller said. 'He might be the last one because of how things have changed.'
Kevin Cash
, who has managed the Rays for 11 years, has the most longevity in his current job. Miller sees Cash as a modern
Terry Francona
.
'He's got the baseball stuff down, obviously. He knows the game. He relates well to players. He's also got the sense of humor. He's got the humanity about him,' Miller said.
Modern managers also represent their teams to the public via the media twice a day during the season and at least once a day during spring training.
They're the face of the organization, often defending policies or decisions they may not have agreed with.
'We're talking billion-dollar organizations and they're the front man,' Miller said. 'It's a lot more difficult than people realize. At times, I'm sure it's a tough job. It's not the same as the NFL or NBA.'
Juan Soto only managed two singles, two walks, and a sacrifice fly in the Mets' three games at Fenway Park.
Barry Chin/Globe Staff
Extra bases
An observation after watching
Juan Soto
play three games at Fenway Park: Something is missing. Soto isn't doing the '
Ryan Fitzgerald
made his major league debut on May 16 for the Twins. Fitzgerald did not get drafted out of Creighton and played for an independent team before being signed by the Red Sox in 2018. He was in the organization until 2022 before the Royals selected him in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft. He bounced from there to the Twins. Fitzgerald played parts of three seasons with the WooSox and was hugely popular with the fan base and happily represented the team at various events …
Gene Lamont
was one of the finalists
Bobby Valentine
and ownership wanted Valentine. General manager
Ben Cherington
was seen as favoring Lamont at the time. In a sense, Cherington finally got his man earlier this month when he hired Lamont as a special advisor to new Pirates manager
Don Kelly
. Lamont, 78, managed the Pirates from 1997-2000 and has a long association with former Pirates manager
Jim Leyland
… Orioles outfielder
Tyler O'Neill
came off the injured list on May 9 after missing 13 games with neck inflammation. He played six games and was 1 for 15 before going back on the injured list with a shoulder impingement. O'Neill is a dangerous hitter but he has played only 305 of a possible 537 games since 2022 … The Dodgers released utility player
Chris Taylor
and catcher
Austin Barnes
in a span of two days. Taylor played 10 seasons for the Dodgers and appeared in 80 playoff games. Barnes was an 11-year veteran with 44 games of playoff experience …
Justin Verlander
was 0-3 through his first 10 starts despite four quality starts. That left him stuck on 262 career regular-season wins. Only 24 pitchers have won 300, and baseball could be sitting on that number for a long time. The last one was
Randy Johnson
, who retired in 2009. Outside of Verlander, only
Max Scherzer
(216) and
Clayton Kershaw
(212) have more than 153 among active pitchers … The Rockies lost nine of 10 after they
Warren Schaeffer
manager. Colorado went into the weekend on pace to lose 136 games. They could challenge the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who were 20-134 in their final season. The Rockies were 8-42 through 50 games. The Spiders were 9-41 … Per Major League Baseball, if the league average of 1.58 stolen bases a game holds, it would be the highest since 1987 (1.70). The Red Sox are one of six teams to average at least one steal per game … Happy birthday to
Todd Walker
, who is 52. The second baseman had an eventful one-season tenure with the Red Sox in 2003 after being acquired in a trade with the Reds. He started 136 games and hit .283 with a .761 OPS for a team that advanced to Game 7 of the ALCS
Peter Abraham can be reached at