BOSTON — He’s not the captain, officially or otherwise. He can’t claim much in the way of tenure, either, having been in a Red Sox uniform a little over a month.
Still, spend some time around the Red Sox and it’s impossible to miss the impact Alex Bregman has had on his new team.
He leads them in most offensive categories, but that’s only part of his contributions. His presence in the clubhouse and the dugout is outsized. He frequently is seen chatting up younger teammates, offering counsel and direction.
But for all of the intangibles he provides, Bregman is consumed with winning. And with the Sox lugging a three-game losing streak into Wednesday and with five losses in their last six tries, Bregman seemed like a man on a mission.
In the fourth inning, he supplied the Red Sox’ first hit, a towering shot into the Monster Seats for his ninth homer of the season and 200th of his career. In the in the sixth, he ripped a double off the Wall and came around to score; and in the seventh, with the game tied, he drilled a two-run single to left, putting the Red Sox ahead for good in a game they would win 6-4 over the Texas Rangers.
“I think,” said Bregman, “we just needed to stop the bleeding, to be honest with you. It’s still super early in the season, but obviously a lot of us haven’t played together. It’s our first time playing together. I feel like we’re figuring out our identity, we’re figuring what it takes to win baseball games at this level.
“There’s a certain preparation, there’s a certain execution that needs to be there, that should be expected. I feel like when you prepare at a high level, it gives you a chance to execute in the game. I feel we did a good job stopping the bleeding and now it’s time to win some baseball games. I came here to win, and it’s the one thing I’m focused on.”
Name the offensive category and it’s likely Bregman leads the Red Sox: hits, runs, doubles, slugging, OPS, RBI and total bases.
That’s a bit unusual for Bregman, known as a slow starter in his previous nine full seasons. The team, meanwhile, has begun poorly – the Sox entered play Wednesday a game under .500 — and that’s frustrated him.
“Obviously, we haven’t started the way we want,” said Bregman. “We’ve lost some games that we should have won and we need to a better job of executing and preparing and just getting better as a team. We hold ourselves to a high standard and when you play in this market, everyone holds you to a high standard. We need to play like we played today.”
It helps to have Bregman locked in at the plate the way he was Wednesday night. The game marked his sixth game with multiple extra-base hits this season, tied for the MLB lead. It was also the third time this year that Bregman had three or more RBI.
The fourth-inning homer extended his on-base streak to 19 straight games, the third-longest active streak in the American League.
But beyond the numbers, there’s an air of expectation that surrounds Bregman in the big moments, and that challenge is one he welcomes.
Alex Cora was a coach with Houston in 2017 and pushed for the Red Sox to sign him in the offseason. He knew what having Bregman on the roster could mean for the Sox.
“There’s a lot of confidence,” said Cora, “a lot of work. He shows up early and he’s locked with what we have to do to get a ‘W.’ And obviously, he’s a big part of it. He helps his teammates, he helps coaches, pitchers….it doesn’t matter. He’s locked in. Then he executes — that’s the most important thing.
“I think this is his best start in his career. I think he’s hitting the ball all over the place, which is great. He’s playing championship-caliber baseball.”
Even if, for now, the majority of his teammates are not. It’s Bregman’s mission to lead them in the right direction. A .500 record is not what he envisioned when he joined the Sox in February.
“I signed here to win baseball games,” said Bregman. “I feel like we have a team that can do that and win a lot of baseball games.”
Especially on nights when he he collects three hits, knocks in three runs and seemingly wills his teammates to victory.
