The Astros were quietly one of the best teams in MLB history last season, but the Red Sox were simply that much better. Boston brought another championship to a city that has been collecting them over the past two decades, and Alex Bregman desperately wants to put an end to that.
In an appearance on the “Going Deep with Chad and JT” podcast this week, Bregman said he firmly believed the Astros were the team to beat in the American League last season. He credited the Red Sox for their record-breaking year, but he did not hide how badly he wants to beat them in 2019.
“We battled. They got the better of us. A few of the guys on our team were banged up,” Bregman said of Houston’s 4-1 ALCS loss, as transcribed by Chris Cotillo of MLive.com. “That’s not an excuse at all. They played really well and played really good baseball. They’re well-coached and have a ton of good players.
“After watching the Patriots win and with the Red Sox beating us last year, there’s no other city that I would like to beat more this year than Boston.”
It makes sense that Bregman wants to take down the defending champions, but it’s interesting that he also uses the Patriots’ success to help fuel him. We all know the reputation fans in Boston have, and it sounds like Bregman would like to silence them as much as anyone.
Bregman helped add some drama to the playoffs last year when he trolled Red Sox pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, and the right-hander ended up being a huge reason why Boston won a title. You can bet Bregman wants to atone for that this upcoming season.
