The Boston Red Sox recently locked down their superstar shortstop and Xander Bogaerts has more than repaid them for their loyalty this season.
This has been one hell of a season for Xander Bogaerts despite the overall struggles the Red Sox have been dealing with. From Opening Day he’s gone out there and has not only made teams play with his bat but also by flashing the leather. Re-signing Bogey to a long-term deal was one of the best moves Dave Dombrowski has made while in Boston.
The only thing that is casting a bit of a shadow over the year that Bogey is having is the off the charts play of Rafael Devers. In Wednesday’s game against the Indians, Cleveland made the mistake of thinking that walking Raffy to get to Xander was the smart move, they were very wrong. Bogaerts would step to the plate and smash a ball into the stands for a 3-run dinger to put the game out of reach.
Xander went out there to prove a point to the rest of the league that he shouldn’t be overlooked. When he spoke after the game he dove into what his mindset was when he noticed they were walking Raffy to get to him.
"“You feel it,” he said. “Obviously, you’re not trying to hit a homer every time but you’re trying to get a run in or at least put a good swing. Not to strike out. You’ll make them look good on that. I laid off some tough sliders, he threw a lot of them. The last one, he left it up and I saw it well and I swung.”"
In the grand scheme that is the game of baseball, it made all the sense in the world of Cleveland to avoid Devers as he had been smacking every pitcher they put on the mound. But to think that Bogaerts isn’t as dangerous as Devers is just ridiculously foolish and the Indians paid for it. Xander would hit both his 100th and 101st homers of his career in that game, proving he’s still one of the best.
Bogaerts is an elite level shortstop and should be getting more shine on his name considering the type of career he’s already had. He was a key member of the 2013 World Seris champion squad and went and did the damn thing again in 2018. He’s only gotten better as the years have gone by and, oh yeah, HE”S ONLY 26 YEARS OLD!
With the ink dried on his new contract, Bogey will be the first long-term shortstop for the Red Sox since Nomar Garciaparra and he’s more than earned every penny. Day in and day out we see him giving every bit of himself during the game and them also being a mentor to Devers.
When Raffy was pissed that he messed up a play on Tuesday night Xander pulled him aside and gave him a talk. That’s the kind of player I want on my team for the long-term and Bogey is a leader we can all be proud of. The rest of the league needs to start realizing just how good Xander is and should put more respect on his name. He can go out there and smash you just as hard as J.D. Martinez, Mookie Betts, or Devers can.
"“I had a lot of success with that,” Bogaerts said. “This year, I feel like it has been with Raffy lately. It has been working well. It definitely gets you going a little bit and understanding that they think you’re the weaker guy.”"
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Last night was another good example of what Bogaerts is capable of. He would then come up later in the game and smash a double off of the Green Monster, though he was denied an RBI as Devers played it safe and stopped at third. The camera caught a glimpse of Bogey joking with Raffy that he should’ve scored. If anyone doubted his extension, he’s more than shut them up at this point.
Going into tonight’s tilt with Baltimore Bogey has a .308/.385/.564/.949 slash line with 27dingers and 92 RBI. Bogaerts has been worth every damn penny that the Red Sox have given him and I only see that trend continuing. The only “poor” season he’s had was the year that he injured his wrist. Other than that anomaly Xander has been an absolute monster for Boston.
The Moral of the story is that Xander Bogaerts is an elite shortstop and has more than earned the respect he’s gotten while also deserving much more. He’s grown into not just a key player for the Red Sox but a mentor for the younger players that have come up through the system behind him. If the Red Sox want to see October this year they’ll need Xander Bogaerts to continue the tear that he’s been on.