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Alex Bregman may not yet know which position he’ll play for the Boston Red Sox this season. But he sure looked comfortable batting in his spring training debut with his new team.
Bregman opened Grapefruit League play with a 3-for-3 day against the Toronto Blue Jays, hitting the first home run in his new uniform along with a double and single. And he started at his familiar position of third base. (Rafael Devers was not in Sunday’s lineup.)
The home run was a 2-run shot off Andrew Bash in the second inning, increasing the Red Sox’s lead to 3-0. Behind on a 2-1 count, Bash grooved a fastball down the middle of the strike zone and Bregman did not miss, smacking it over JetBlue Park’s version of the Green Monster.
Facing Toronto starter Yariel Rodríguez, Bregman singled in his first plate appearance and doubled off Jake Bloss in the fourth inning. He finished with three RBI, driving in Nate Eaton with his double and his day ended in the sixth with Tyler Miller taking over at third base.
“It felt great. Kind of breaks the ice on Spring Training,” Bregman said of Sunday’s performance to MLB.com. “You kind of get to feeling a little bit better.
“We’ve been working hard on some mechanical things that I was doing early in my career, that I kind of stopped doing the last few years, and been working hard in the cage… and was happy to see some good swings today.”
The Red Sox are hoping Bregman hits as well at Fenway Park with them as he did with the Houston Astros. In 21 career games, he hit .375 with a 1.240 OPS, nine doubles, seven home runs and 15 RBI.
The Red Sox also had to be happy with the spring debut of another new player, pitcher Garrett Crochet. Crochet, acquired in December from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for four prospects, struck out four Toronto batters and allowed three hits in 1 2/3 innings. Striking out the side in the first inning, he threw 26 pitches overall, 17 for strikes.