What Alex Bregman Told Top Red Sox Prospects Before Rare Move

A certain someone in the Red Sox’s starting lineup Monday stood out from the rest.

Alex Bregman surprisingly made the hour-plus long bus ride from Fort Myers, Fla., to Sarasota for Boston’s spring training matchup with the Baltimore Orioles. It’s pretty unordinary for seasoned veterans to make that kind of road trip, especially players as accomplished as Bregman.

However, the two-time World Series champion wanted to tag along so he could spend some extra time with the Red Sox’s top prospects. A little banter from those youngsters also set the stage for Bregman to hit the road.

“Yeah, he’s the man,” Marcelo Mayer told reporters, per MLB.com. “I mean, we were talking about it, me and Roman (Anthony), and we noticed that the veterans don’t normally come out to road games a lot, so we were giving him a little bit of crap. And he’s (Bregman) like, ‘Dude, I’ll go to the next one. Like, let’s go hang out on the bus.’ Next thing you know he’s on the bus with us.”

Bregman wanting to develop a relationship with Mayer, Anthony and other Boston up-and-comers shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, the two-time All-Star specifically showed interest in the Red Sox’s future when he met with team brass in free agency. Boston proceeded to put Bregman’s spring training locker right next to Kristian Campbell’s, where Mayer and Anthony also are close by.

The Red Sox’s “big three” prospects still have a lot to learn as they inch closer to their respective MLB debuts. But many of those lessons can be taught by Bregman, who’s renowned for his natural leadership skills.