A pair of Boston Red Sox infielders have been racking up doubles
If opposing pitchers are seeing double when they face the heart of the Boston Red Sox lineup it’s not because Xander Bogaerts bares much resemblance to teammate Rafael Devers. It’s because the infield duo has a penchant for piling up doubles at the plate.
That extra-base hitting ability was on display in Friday night’s victory in Philadelphia. Devers crushed a curveball low and away from Phillies starter Aaron Nola to the opposite field to drive in a run in the first inning. The ball hit the top of the fence, missing a home run by inches.
Bogaerts belted a double in the ninth inning that moved J.D. Martinez over to third base. Both runners would eventually score as the Red Sox piled on more runs in an 11-3 route.
That double gave Bogaerts 14 for the season, tied for second in the American League. Devers is right behind him with 13 doubles.
It was also the 250th career double for Bogaerts. While that may not seem quite as impressive as the milestone Martinez recently reached with his 250th home run, it’s notable that Bogaerts is only the 17th player to reach 250 doubles in a Red Sox uniform.
Bogaerts is also the third player in franchise history to reach 250 career doubles before the age of 29, joining Carl Yastrzemski and Bobby Doerr. Bogaerts doesn’t turn 29 until October so he should easily fly by Doerr (255) for the second-most doubles in franchise history by that age. Yaz had 290 doubles before his 29th birthday. Bogaerts would need another 50 this season to catch him, giving him 64 for the season. Xander’s career-high is 52 in a single season so it’s a tall task to surpass Yaz but not entirely out of reach.
Part of why Bogaerts finds himself in such esteemed company is because he broke into the big leagues at the age of 20. So did Devers, who played more games (58) in his age-20 season than Bogaerts (18) did in his debut season. Bogaerts reached 250 doubles in 1014 games for an average of .246 doubles per game. Devers already has 121 doubles in 435 games for an average of .278 per game. If Bogaerts doesn’t catch Yaz for the most doubles before his 29th birthday, the 24-year-old Devers just might do it within the next few years.
Devers has been an extra-base hitting machine in his young career. Since his breakout season in 2019, Devers leads the majors with 143 extra-base hits. 83 of those have been doubles, by far the most in the majors during that span. The closest any major league hitter has come to that doubles total since 2019 is Bogaerts with 74.
The Red Sox always seem to have at least one hitter among the league leaders in doubles. Fenway Park is tailor made for doubles with the inviting left field wall. The home field advantage isn’t the only reason why this infield duo has been racking them up though. Devers has collected 8 of his 13 doubles on the road this season while Bogaerts has split his 14 doubles evenly with seven at home and seven on the road.
This pair of Red Sox stars have been piling up doubles at a historical pace so whenever their bats are in the lineup, it’s going to spell trouble for the opposing pitching staff.