Alex Bregman is out with a significant quad strain as Red Sox call up top prospect Mayer

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox are getting ready to be without one of their most productive hitters for an extended period of time.

Third baseman Alex Bregman will be out with what manager Alex Cora called a significant right quad strain. The big free agent addition for the Red Sox left their game Friday with tightness in the quad.

Turns out it's a similar injury to his left quad strain in 2021, one that cost him 58 games.

“Very similar to '21,” Cora said after the Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 in 10 innings on Saturday.

Bregman agreed.

“Yeah, pretty severe right quad strain," he said, speaking quietly in Boston’s clubhouse in the middle of a doubleheader. “Pretty similar to ‘21.

“But, it is what it is, and now I'll try to take it day by day and approach rehab.”

Signed by the Red Sox as a free agent to a $120 million, three-year deal during the offseason, Bregman has been hitting .299 and has 11 homers and 35 RBIs.

To take his place on the roster, Boston promoted top infielder prospect Marcelo Mayer from Triple-A Worcester. It placed Bregman on the 10-day injured list.

“It feels good," Mayer said before the doubleheader's second game. "It's something I worked for my whole life."

Mayer, who was selected No. 4 overall in the 2021 amateur draft, is slated to make his major league debut at third — a position Cora says will be get a “mix and match" approach.

“There’s a lot of guys in the conversation,” he said. “Roster construction comes into play, guys in the minor leagues, how they fit the roster — all that stuff.”

Cora answered “no” when asked if Rafael Devers could be in the immediate plans, but he didn't completely close the door.

“We made a decision in the offseason and this is where we’re going,” Cora said. “There are a few things that we took into consideration and I think we’ve been very consistent with it.

“I’m not going react to the outside world because (they) think that’s the right move. Maybe it’s not, right? Maybe we’re doing it right? Maybe we’re doing it wrong?”

Devers was the team’s third baseman for eight seasons and moved to designated hitter when Bregman was given the job. He told the Red Sox earlier this month he wasn’t moving to play first base, as he's been red hot at the plate. Devers is batting .299 with 12 homers and 47 RBIs.

He collected a career-best eight RBIs in a lopsided victory over the Orioles on Friday.

“I know the guy. He’s raking. He’s the best DH in the American League right now,” Cora said. “If he keeps continuing to do this, he’s going to be in the All-Star Game as the DH and going to win a Silver Slugger as a DH. This is where we’re going. We’ll continue to talk. I’m not going to say we’re going to close the door.”

Boston already lost a corner infielder for the season when first baseman Triston Casas ruptured a tendon in his left knee and had season-ending surgery. The loss of Bregman could be a big blow to a lineup that’s struggled at times.

“We’ll be OK. Obviously, he’s a big part of our offense,” Cora said. “Triston is a big part of our offense. We’ve just got to find a way to score runs in a different way and we’re prepared for that.”

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Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora puts his hand on the shoulder of Alex Bregman as he leaves the game after injuring himself running out a single against the Baltimore Orioles during the fifth inning in the first baseball game of a doubleheader Friday, May 23, 2025, at Fenway Park in Boston. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

Boston Red Sox's Alex Bregman heads for the dugout after injuring himself on a single against the Baltimore Orioles during the fifth inning in the first baseball game of a doubleheader Friday, May 23, 2025, at Fenway Park in Boston. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

Boston Red Sox's Alex Bregman bends over before leaving the game after injuring himself on a single against the Baltimore Orioles during the fifth inning in the first baseball game of a doubleheader Friday, May 23, 2025, at Fenway Park in Boston. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — In the aftermath of a fire inside a Swiss Alpine bar that killed 40 people celebrating the new year, survivors, friends and family members, the region’s top authorities and even Pope Leo have spoken to the public in remarks in French, Italian, German and English, reflecting the tradition of Swiss multilingualism.

Another 119 people were injured in the blaze early Thursday as it ripped through the busy Le Constellation bar at the ski resort of Crans-Montana, authorities said. It was one of the deadliest tragedies in Switzerland’s history.

Investigators said Friday that they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar.

Here’s a look at what people said in the wake of the disaster:

— “I’m looking everywhere. The body of my son is somewhere,” Laetitia Brodard told reporters Friday in Crans-Montana as she searched for her son, 16-year-old Arthur. “I want to know, where is my child, and be by his side. Wherever that may be, be it in the intensive care unit or the morgue.”

— “We were bringing people out, people were collapsing. We were doing everything we could to save them, we helped as many as we could. We saw people screaming, running,” Marc-Antoine Chavanon, 14, told The Associated Press in Crans-Montana on Friday, recounting how he rushed to the bar to help the injured. “There was one of our friends: She was struggling to get out, she was all burned. You can’t imagine the pain I saw.”

— “It was hard to live through for everyone. Also probably because everyone was asking themselves, ‘Was my child, my cousin, someone from the region at this party?’” Eric Bonvin, general director of the regional hospital in Sion that took in dozens of injured people, told AP on Friday. “This place was very well known as somewhere to celebrate the new year,” Bonvin said. “Also, seeing young people arrive — that’s always traumatic.”

— “I have seen horror, and I don’t know what else would be worse than this,” Gianni Campolo, a Swiss 19-year-old who was in Crans-Montana on vacation and rushed to the bar to help first responders, told France's TF1 television.

—“You will understand that the priority today is truly placed on identification, in order to allow the families to begin their mourning,” Beatrice Pilloud, the Valais region's attorney general, told reporters Friday during a news conference in Sion.

Pope Leo said in a telegram Friday to the bishop of Sion that he " wishes to express his compassion and concern to the relatives of the victims. He prays that the Lord will welcome the deceased into His abode of peace and light, and will sustain the courage of those who suffer in their hearts or in their bodies.”

— “We have numerous accounts of heroic actions, one could say of very strong solidarity in the moment,” Cantonal head of government Mathias Reynard told RTS radio Friday. "In the first minutes it was citizens — and in large part young people — who saved lives with their courage.”

— “Switzerland is a strong country not because it is sheltered from drama, but because it knows how to face them with courage and a spirit of mutual help," Swiss President Guy Parmelin, speaking on his first day in the position that changes hands annually, told reporters Thursday.

People bring flowers near the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)

A woman holding a stuffed animal, whose daughter is missing, gather with others near the sealed-off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

People light candles near the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)