Xander Bogaerts is one of baseball’s best shortstops, but the Boston Red Sox star is far from complacent when it comes to his all-around game.
Bogaerts is coming off one of his best seasons in the big leagues. The 26-year-old batted .288 in 2018 while setting career highs in home runs (23) and RBIs (103). Bogaerts also was relatively strong in the field, with his .980 fielding percentage serving as the second-highest mark of his career since his first full season in 2014.
The two-time World Series champion knows there’s still room for improvement, though, and he believes it all starts with his glove.
“How do I hope to improve? There’s always room for improvement — the defensive side especially,” Bogaerts said, per the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman. “I think I got better (last year). Just try to continue to get better defensively. Hopefully Pedey (Dustin Pedroia) is back, he’s been my second base (since I was) coming up in my career. He sees stuff differently and helps me a lot. Missing that the past couple years have been tough but hopefully we have him back and get that thing rolling again.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora isn’t expecting Bogaerts to turn into a fielding dynamo, but he knows there’s work to be done as well.
“Defensively, there’s more there,” Cora said. “I’ve always said that he’s not going to be (Andrelton) Simmons or Francisco Lindor. He’s a shortstop that we like. He makes all the routine plays but I think he can make all the plays. Like in the World Series, he started making that play in the hole, that’s a play that during the season — it’s 162 games, he’s a big shortstop sometimes — it takes him a while to get rid of the ball. That play in October he made every time. Those are, simple stuff like that can make him better. I think as far as positioning, we know where to put him. Metrics don’t agree with us in that sense. We like the sure-handed kid that doesn’t make errors. I think defensively he knows it. There’s a few plays that he can make and I think he’s working on it.”
Bogaerts can do himself well by turning in a career season in the field, as he’s set to become a free agent at the conclusion of the 2019 campaign.
