With the regular season less than one month away, the Boston Red Sox hope to have all of their core by Opening Day.
In Major League Baseball, your core can be the main reason you see success in the season. There are certain players who can determine the fate of their respective teams through their own success. MLB.com writer Anthony Castrovince named each team’s “most indispensable” player Friday and selected shortstop Xander Bogaerts for the Red Sox.
With injuries clouding their pitching picture, Boston’s path to prominence in 2020 would almost certainly have to involve an overpowering offense. While the young Rafael Devers was every bit as brilliant at the plate in ’19, in the wake of the Mookie Betts trade, this is Xander Bogaerts’ team. Last year, he had a .939 OPS and finished fifth in the AL Most Valuable Player Award voting.
Bogaerts had a career year in 2019, finishing with a .309 batting average and a career-high in home runs and RBIs with 33 and 117, respectively. Bogaerts has been the unquestioned leader for a long time and will look to help the Red Sox return to the postseason in 2020.
