Xander Bogaerts’ lack of home runs is far from the Red Sox’ biggest problem
Xander Bogaerts can’t win.
In his decade as the Boston Red Sox shortstop, he’s amassed a trophy case full of awards and has a World Series ring for each hand. He’s been one of the best offensive players at his position around the league. He’s put himself in the franchise record books with some of Boston’s greatest, even breaking a record or two.
He’s a proven winner, but somehow, nothing is ever good enough.
On Friday night, as the Sox opened a series in Baltimore, the broadcast lamented his lack of home runs this season. Never mind the fact that JD Martinez, historically much more of a power hitter, has exactly the same amount, and most of their teammates have less. Bogaerts is on pace for more doubles than last season. He may finish with fewer RBI than last year, but is it now his fault that his teammates don’t get on base for him to drive them in? Should we also blame him for all the injuries this season?
Bogaerts came into Friday’s game hitting .303/.375/.442 with 127 hits in 113 games, including 31 doubles and the aforementioned nine home runs. He’s stolen more bases this year, and his defense has improved, too. He was worth -9 Outs Above Average last year; he’s +3 this season.
Still, people are dissatisfied.
On a team riddled with more injuries than swiss cheese has holes, Bogaerts leads the roster in games played, hits, walks, batting average, and on-base percentage. Among all American League hitters, he ranks in the top-10 in WAR among position players (9th), offensive WAR (8th), AVG (5th), OBP (9th), hits (t-4), doubles (6th), singles (6th), and times on base (4th).
Apparently, none of that matters.
Save for ceding shortstop to Trevor Story, Bogaerts does everything asked of him and then some. He even helped the Sox recruit Story, knowing all the while that he could be recruiting his own replacement. It takes a big person to do that.
None of this is to say that Bogaerts’ drop in power isn’t concerning, but on the long list of issues with this year’s roster, the fact that he isn’t hitting homers is way down around the bottom. Perhaps it’s easier for fans and media members to take aim at him because issues such as injuries are usually out of players’ control. But most of the team is struggling to find their power; the roster’s HR/game is down from 1.39 last year to 0.93 this season. The league as a whole is on pace for significantly fewer homers this year. 5,944 balls left the park in 2021; with each team having played approximately 118 games so far this year, the grand total stood at 3,806 homers on Friday morning.
In other words, not exactly a personal problem.
Bogaerts is undervalued financially by his team, and his contributions are undervalued by many fans. I’ve never understood it.
So many teams and their fans would love to have Bogaerts.
And if the Sox aren’t smart, one of them will.
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