Sep 7, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Alex Bregman’s Late-Season Struggles With Red Sox Explained

Originally posted on Boston Red Sox on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Sep 18, 2025 9:00 AM ET

The Boston Red Sox’s offense hasn’t been where’s the team has needed it to be recently.

Most of that has been attributed to the loss of Roman Anthony, but that is not all that is going on with the club. Another significant piece has struggled recently with the bat in Alex Bregman. Over his last 21 games, Bregman is slashing .151/.215/.221 dating back to August 25th. Before the slump, Bregman was batting .305, now his average has dropped to .272. Over this stretch, Bregman has clocked just one home run and driven in six RBIs.

It's tough to lose Anthony, obviously, but if Bregman can bounce back, the Red Sox will be right where they need to be with the season winding down. Red Sox manager Alex Cora was asked what he has seen from the star third baseman and opened up about the struggles, as transcribed by MassLive.com's Christopher Smith.

Can Alex Bregman return to form?

"Chasing pitches,” Cora said as transcribed by Smith. "Just chasing pitches. If you look at his map, he’s swinging at pitches in the edges of the zone and he’s never done that throughout his career. Well, he’s done it and when he struggles, it’s because of that...“One of the things that I saw in ’17 and he’s done throughout his career is hunting pitches in certain areas and being disciplined on taking the other ones. And it feels like right now maybe he’s swinging at pitches in the zone, but not the ones he really wants. And with Alex throughout his career, he’s very patient. He doesn’t swing much. He’ll be 0-2, and then all of a sudden he’s 3-2. Kind of like one of the best at doing that...

"Game-planning-wise, they’re not going to go through the honeyhole. They’re going to keep the ball in certain areas, and it’s up to him if he’s going to swing at those pitches or not. And hopefully today we’re very stubborn as a group in the strike zone. I think that’s where we are at our best. We know that. And he needs to do that. He knows it, too.”

In Bregman's last 21 games, he has walked just five times. In comparison, he had 39 walks in his first 85 games of the season this year with Boston. It's a tough time of the year. The season is winding down, a chance at the playoffs is on the line, and there's a hole in the lineup with Anthony out. It certainly makes things more difficult for Bregman to not have that guy in front of him in the lineup any longer. Pitchers can attack him differently. Now, it'll be interesting to see how he can adjust with just a few games left.

This article first appeared on Boston Red Sox on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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