Entering Monday, three of the top four batting averages in the American League belonged to Boston Red Sox players.
Two of those players are ones you’ve surely heard plenty about this season: David Ortiz, the soon-to-be-retired slugger who’s in the midst of one of the best final seasons in baseball history, and Jackie Bradley Jr., the defensive specialist-turned-power hitter who owns the longest hitting streak (27 games and counting) of 2016.
The third, however, has received comparatively little recognition despite boasting the best average in the AL and ranking among the league’s best in a host of other offensive categories. That would be shortstop Xander Bogaerts.
Bogaerts carried a .346 average into the Red Sox’s off day Monday — and, it should be noted, has registered 30 more at-bats than both Bradley (.342 average, second in the AL) and Ortiz (.329, fourth). His 16-game hitting streak is the second-longest active streak in the majors behind Bradley’s, and he’s hit safely in 28 of his last 30 games, including 17 multi-hit efforts.
No player in the majors has collected more hits this season (63) than Bogaerts (he’s tied with Washington’s Daniel Murphy atop that list), and only four — Bradley, Jose Altuve, Mike Trout and Ortiz — have reached base at a higher clip.
“He’s all over the baseball,” Red Sox manager John Farrell told reporters, via MassLive.com, after Bogaerts went 3-for-5 in Sunday’s 5-2 win over the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. “He fights off tough pitches for the RBI single with the bloop hit into right field. He gets a changeup up in the strike zone for his first base hit where he pulled his hands in great.
“He’s got such great plate coverage and yet his hands, we talk about (Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts’) hands, Bogey is in the same category. Just very confident, flat bat path through the strike zone allows him to cover many different types of pitches.”
On top of his offensive production (he’s on pace for career bests in almost every category), Bogaerts also has shown tremendous improvement in the field. After committing 20 errors in 2014 and 11 last season, the third-year major leaguer has just one through 43 games. That’s tied for the second-fewest among all qualified shortstops behind Detroit’s Jose Iglesias, who’s yet to commit an error.
So, while his season might not measure up to Ortiz’s farewell or Bradley’s breakout from a storyline perspective, you won’t find many players — not just on the Red Sox, but in all of baseball — who are are putting on a better all-around performance than Xander Bogaerts.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
