FORT MYERS, Fla. – For all of Alex Bregman’s success throughout his career, he’s still in search of ways to improve.

Since signing with the Red Sox earlier this month he and the staff have identified some ways to do just that. They found that he’d gotten away from “mechanical things” he’d been doing earlier in his career, so they focused on getting him back to that version of himself.

“(I’ve) kind of been feeling some different things mechanically over the last few years that I kind of wanted to get sorted out, and they noticed the same things,” he explained. “I was a little more turned in and my hands were launching from a lot further back the last few years.”

It helped explain why Bregman hasn’t hit for power as much in recent seasons. Between his ’16 debut and the end of ’20, he slashed .283/.381/.521 over 559 regular-season games. In the subsequent four seasons he’s compiled a .262/.350/.444 line over 552 games. Still strong, but markedly lower.

The results of his adjustments are already paying off; Bregman was able to contribute immediately, going 3-for-3 with a two-run Green Monster homer and double in his spring training debut on Sunday.

“We tried to kind of keep (my hands) inside my frame today,” he said, “and it felt good to square a few balls up.”

Bregman is also adjusting well to his new organization. Other players have been wowed by his eternal quest for betterment, especially top prospects Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kristian Campbell, who were stunned when the veteran star opted to sit with them at lunch and spend two hours chatting with them on his first day in camp.

Bregman’s new manager hasn’t been surprised, though. Alex Cora saw this many years ago, when he was the Astros’ bench coach and Bregman was Houston’s young third baseman.

“For him that’s the norm,” Cora said. “The way he goes about it, the intensity. This is spring training and he’s serious, like every repetition, every pitch, communication with the pitchers.

That’s the part people here don’t – they’ve never seen,” Cora continued. “I’ve seen it, I know how it works, and he’s going to keep getting better, he’s going to keep working his craft, but at the same time he’s going to make people here a lot better.

“And I said it before: he’s going to challenge you. You better be ready as a coach, because every day he’s going to come up with stuff, and he wants us to win, he wants to be a part of this, he’s enjoying it, and I think that wall is going to play.”

It certainly played on Sunday.