Red Sox: MLB pitchers react to Xander Bogaerts’ Wild Card home run
Xander Bogaerts hit a massive home run off Gerrit Cole to give the Red Sox an early lead in the Wild Card game
September struggles, be gone! Xander Bogaerts hit a mammoth two-run homer in the first inning of the American League Wild Card Game to give the Red Sox an early 2-0 lead.
With one on and two out, Bogaerts worked a 2-1 count against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and blasted a 427-footer to dead center.
XANDER SETS THE TONE. pic.twitter.com/ObS9mP8Qr2
— Red Sox (@RedSox) October 6, 2021
Some pitchers around Major League Baseball whose own seasons are over were watching from home, and couldn’t help but compliment the well-respected shortstop, including Marcus Stroman.
Wow. Bogaerts. He’s been raking against me for years. Lol he doesn’t have any holes in that swing. You have to expand way off the plate from pitch one with quality pitches. His bat path allows him to cover any velocity/off-speed in the zone while maximizing on the bad pitches!
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) October 6, 2021
Stroman’s Mets teammate Trevor May weighed in, too:
The dudes hands are LIGHTNING quick too, so velo does nothing. Gotta have the sweeping movement. https://t.co/24oWhJ7AAO
— Trevor May (Not Parody) (@IamTrevorMay) October 6, 2021
Bogaerts’ blast was also the first home run Cole had allowed to a righty batter on his changeup all season. According to the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, Cole had held right-handed hitters to a .118 batting average and .148 slugging percentage on that specific pitch. As Jeremy Frank noted, Bogaerts and Nomar Garciaparra are the only Red Sox shortstops in franchise history to hit a home run in an elimination “sudden-death” game.
Xander Bogaerts homered in his fifth career postseason with the Red Sox
Tuesday night’s Wild Card game marks Bogaerts’ fifth year of postseason play. As a rookie in 2013, he hit .296/.412/.481 with a .893 OPS in 12 games during the Red Sox’ Boston Strong championship run.
The last time Bogaerts faced the Yankees in October was the 2018 ALDS, over a year before they’d pay Cole the big bucks. In the four-game set, X went 5-for-17 with a home run, two runs scored, two RBI, a walk, and only one strikeout.
Since his 2013 debut, Bogaerts has emerged as the leader of this Red Sox team. He only turned 29 years old on October 1, but he’s their longest-tenured player, and already has a list of personal and team accolades a mile long. Now he can add homering in a sudden-death playoff game to the list.
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