The Boston Red Sox entered this week in desperate need of a vibe shift. Tuesday's 6-1 loss to the Texas Rangers was the team's fifth in its last six games, dropping its record back below .500 at 18-19.
Normally, you'd look to someone like the manager or, maybe, the longest-tenured and highest-paid player to help get things back on track. For Boston, though, those two figures were part of the problem: Alex Cora and Rafael Devers were too busy waging a strange cold war against each other about whether Devers would or would not consider a shift to first base in the wake of Triston Casas' season-ending injury.
Instead, the guy who just arrived in Boston a couple of months ago decided to take matters into his own hands. Alex Bregman was already off to a torrid start at the plate, trying to singlehandedly carry the Red Sox offense while Devers and others warmed up. He was at it again on Wednesday night, with a double, a two-run single and his 200th career homer to pace Boston to a big 6-4 win over the Texas Rangers. But he didn't stop there: He realizes that this team needs him to shoulder more responsibility off the field as well, and he's more than happy to oblige.
“It’s still super early in the season, but obviously a lot of us haven’t played together," Bregman said after Wednesday's win, per MassLive. "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.”
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Alex Bregman leading amid Alex Cora-Rafael Devers controversy
While Bregman was a clean on-field fit for the Red Sox (especially at the plate), this was the real reason why Cora and Craig Breslow wanted to bring him to Boston in the first place. He may still be settling in with a new team, but the two-time All-Star brings World Series pedigree that grants him instant respect in a clubhouse full of young players still finding their way amid sky-high expectations.
Bregman, on the other hand, has seen it all before, and he knows how to shine when the lights are brightest. It can be easy for the media firestorm in a place like Boston to swallow a team whole, and it's critical that someone has the gravitas to drag everyone's attention back where it belongs: playing and winning baseball games.
“Obviously, we haven’t started the way we want,” Bregman said. “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.”
Boston has now won two games in a row, back above .500 and right on the heels of the New York Yankees in the AL East. They'll eventually need their other big names to start hitting like Bregman has been, but until then, he's more than happy to lead by example.