Red Sox’s Alex Bregman: Roman Anthony Among ‘Best’ MLB Bats

Boston Red Sox rookie phenom Roman Anthony is mature beyond his years, and Alex Bregman is impressed.

The All-Star third baseman was asked about Anthony on Friday night following Boston’s walk-off win, in which Anthony and Bregman drew back-to-back walks in the bottom of the ninth against Miami Marlins’ Josh Simpson. Soon after, Anthony scored the game-winning run on a Trevor Story single to right.

Anthony and Bregman have quickly turned into one of the best 1-2 punches at the top of the order in Major League Baseball. When Bregman was asked how much he enjoys hitting behind Anthony, he wasn’t afraid to praise the 21-year-old.

“I feel like he’s one of the best hitters in all of baseball,” Bregman said of Anthony, per NESN.

“And he’s very mature, and you see that when (he went) 0-for-4 in Houston with a few punch outs against a really good arm, and then you punch out twice against (Sandy) Alcántara, and then you don’t go out and chase hits your next two at-bats. You make them throw the ball over the plate. And I mean, the plate discipline is crazy for his age, and also the maturity to not try and do too much in those situations is special. So, hitting behind him is awesome.”

Anthony is now slashing .277/ .401/ .436/ .837 with four home runs and 23 RBIs on the season in 188 at-bats. The young star has also drawn 34 walks, pointing to the disciplined plate approach lauded by Bregman.

Anthony signed an eight-year, $130 million contract extension with Boston on August 6. The kid from West Palm Beach is going to be playing in Boston for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, for the Red Sox’s sake, Bregman will choose to do the same following this season.

Boston entered Saturday in second place in the American League Wild Card, one game back of the Seattle Mariners and 1.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees.