Boston Red Sox Report Cards: Shortstop Xander Bogaerts

The BoSox Injection crew grades the 2018 season for each member of the Boston Red Sox, continuing with shortstop Xander Bogaerts.

Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts had one of the best seasons of his career this year. He had career-highs in doubles, home runs, RBI and OPS, all while missing 26 games. His 45 doubles and 103 RBI were good for sixth and twelfth in all of baseball, respectively.

He arguably had a better overall year in 2016, when he hit for power, average and scored runs. But by fWAR, 2018 was the better year (4.9 in 2018 and 4.8 in 2016). His offensive stats this year are more along the lines of the player that many projected him to be when he was a prospect. When he first started to mature as a player, he was someone who made good contact and hit for average. This season, he was able to make contact, hit for average and drive in runs at a much higher rate than he ever had.

As per usual, Bogaerts had a great year in clutch situations. In 183 plate appearances with runners in scoring position, he hit .342 with an 1.130 OPS and 90 RBI. He also hit .303 with men on base and .309 with a 1.081 OPS and 36 RBI with runners in scoring position and two outs. Most notably, with the bases loaded Bogaerts hit .600 with a 1.965 OPS and three grand slams in 23 plate appearances. Besides Mookie Betts or J.D. Martinez, Bogaerts is probably the best player to be at the plate in a big spot for the Red Sox.

Bogaerts even managed to insert himself back into the conversation for best shortstop in baseball. He was in the top five of all shortstops in almost every meaningful offensive category. Two of the only places he slipped were in hits and runs, and those can be at least partly attributed to the games he missed.

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His defense this season looked better as well. Bogaerts was a Gold Glove Finalist in 2015, but that was more because of the competition. Every year, he has looked more and more comfortable at shortstop, and 2018 was no different.

Postseason

Bogaerts had different levels of success in each round of the playoffs. Unfortunately, he got progressively worse.

His best series was the ALDS against the Yankees. He hit .294 in the round and had a hit in every game, including a home run off Masahiro Tanaka in Boston’s only loss. It was a big hit at that point in the game, but it ultimately was not enough.

He had a solid series against the Astros, in which he hit .263 and drove in three runs. Two big hits in Game Four were his highlights, but other than that, he had a relatively quiet series at the plate.

The World Series was where Bogaerts struggled the most at the plate. Lowlighted by an 0-for-8 showing in the 18 inning Game Three loss, he batted .136 in the series. His only big hit came in the ninth inning of Game Four: he drove in the final run in the Sox’ five-run ninth inning.

Overall, Xander batted just .224 in the playoffs with only two doubles and seven RBI. But his great work with the glove all throughout October kept his value high for the team. Had the Red Sox’ role players not stepped up the way they did, Bogaerts may have been under much more scrutiny than he was ultimately under.

Grade

Even with a fairly poor offensive showing in the playoffs, Bogaerts still had a great season overall. A slight slump shouldn’t detract from what was an impressive showing.

Again, this was probably his best overall season to date. If he was on any other team, he probably would have been their best player. But this just happened to be a team with Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez. He was overshadowed by those guys, but his season was great.

Shortstop is the most important position on the field, and to have someone who can field his position and provide hefty offensive numbers is extremely important. Bogaerts was able to do those things and then some.

Looking ahead to 2019

This winter is Bogaerts’ last year of arbitration. Last season, he made just over $7 million. For next year, MLB Trade Rumors projects he will make $11.9 million before becoming a free agent in 2020. Look for the Red Sox to at least discuss a contract extension for him this offseason.

If they don’t extend him, Bogaerts could have an even bigger year in 2019. The high of winning a World Series combined with finally reaching his full potential and a contract year will be big motivators for him.

Xander Bogaerts is one of the key members of this Red Sox team. His contributions to the team should be an important part of this team’s success for at least one more year.