Alex Bregman, a two-time World Series champion and All-Star and four-time MVP vote recipient, posted the first five-hit game of his career for the Boston Red Sox on April 15.
The night after a brutal 16-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, Bregman bounced back in commanding fashion. He mashed two homers, a double and two singles for four RBI and two runs. Rafael Devers also recorded a double and Jarren Duran belted his first homer of the season to help reignite the Sox’s offense en route to a 7-4 win in Tampa.
Not only did Bregman help Boston recover from a beatdown, he broke out of a weeklong slump at the plate — he collected four hits and five strikeouts in seven Sox games from April 8-14. Walker Buehler, who started Boston’s April 15 game, thinks there are plenty of Red Sox who have the stuff to match Bregman’s feat.
“I think we have five, six, seven guys that can have a day like Bregman did today and win us a game,” Buehler said in his postgame presser on NESN. “That’s kind of what you’re looking for — that depth. Not depth in terms of, like, ‘Oh, they could get a hit today,’ but depth of guys that can take over a game.”
Walker Buehler thinks Red Sox have five to seven players who can replicate Alex Bregman’s 5-for-5 night
During the offseason, the Red Sox were the subject of much hype for their offseason additions. The improvements they made (signing Bregman and Buehler, trading for Garrett Crochet) were expected to help Boston on both sides of the ball, but the offense has been slow to start. Bregman has done his part with his 5-for-5 night and American League Player of the Week honors in the opening week of the campaign, but the Sox’s existing hitters have struggled early.
Devers’ slow start after his move to designated hitter is well-documented, but Duran hasn’t put up the numbers people expected after his breakout season last year. He’s struck out 20 times in 18 games and has registered just five extra-base hits, well below his pace at this time last year. Triston Casas is an established slow starter, and he’s already been moved down the batting order twice while his bat wakes up. He’s batting .180/.242/.279 with 18 strikeouts and four walks in 17 games, but the Red Sox believe he has 30-40 homer potential.
Wilyer Abreu, Kristian Campbell and Trevor Story have been reliable in the first few weeks of the season — Campbell, a rookie, reached base in his first 17 games in the big leagues — but the Red Sox’s biggest bats must warm up before Buehler’s statement can come true. It’s still early and Casas and Duran are trending in the right direction, but consistency will be key to get Boston’s offense back on track.
