The Boston Red Sox went into the offseason with serious question marks and emerged as a potential frontrunner in the American League.
It's time to give Craig Breslow his flowers. The Garrett Crochet trade (and subsequent extension) was the first major win, but Boston didn't stop there. The Red Sox inked Alex Bregman to a three-year, $120 million contract late in the offseason, adding the right-handed slugger their lineup so desperately needed.
The early returns are predictability positive. Bregman looks right at home in his new threads, tied for the most hits in MLB so far with 15 in a 10-game span. That puts him at .341 with a .974 OPS, including two home runs, 10 RBI, and a league-leading five doubles.
Bregman always profiled extremely well in Boston. He has a whole career of Fenway Park dominance to back up the lofty annual salary. That said, it has been especially irksome for Houston Astros fans, who are used to Bregman trudging through March and April at half-speed.
The 30-year-old third baseman was a career .248 hitter in the months of March and April prior to signing in Boston. Maybe this is a fluke. Maybe it's as simple as being in a more optimal spot. But it's still frustrating for Astros fans, who are suffering through middling output from their Bregman replacements.
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Alex Bregman's Red Sox hot streak has miserable Astros fans in their feelings
Houston did not replace Bregman outright since he left as a free agent, but the Kyle Tucker trade brought back two day-one MLB players — third baseman Isaac Paredes and right fielder Cam Smith.
Smith, in particular, was the gem of Houston's ambitious offseason reshuffle. The 22-year-old, after a meteoric rise through the minor-league ranks, was burdened with immediate expectations for an Astros team hoping to contend.
As is common with young, unproven players, however, Smith is struggling early on. It's way too premature to panic, but Smith's production certainly is not filling Bregman's void. The rookie is batting .111 with a .349 OPS through six appearances. That stands in stark contrast to Smith's dominant spring training, and serves as a helpful reminder of how volatile even the best prospects can be.
Meanwhile, Paredes — a former All-Star theoretically on the upswing of his career at 26 — hasn't been much better. He's batting .242 with a subpar .648 OPS as Houston's new third baseman. These numbers figure to improve over time. We can't react too strongly to such small sample sizes in either direction. That said, Bregman is outclassing Houston's primary offseason additions, all while Jose Altuve fumbles around left field. It has not been an ideal start to the Astros' post-Bregman era.
Is now a bad time to mention that Bregman's co-leader for hits so far this season is Kyle Tucker? Anyhow...
Bregman was named AL Player of the Week for his strong efforts in Boston. If he can sustain even 80 percent of his current pace, Bregman feels like an All-Star lock. The Red Sox needed right-handed slugging and appear to have made the right choice, even if it meant a little bit of Raffy Devers drama in spring training.