It seems shortstop Xander Bogaerts reacted like many Red Sox fans at Fenway Park when it came to a highlight-reel double play in the fifth inning of Boston’s eventual 4-0 victory against the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.
On the play, Bogaerts went to his left and dove to his knees while fielding the ground ball hit by Minnesota’s Gio Urshella. Bogaerts then flipped the ball with his glove to second baseman Trevor Story, who then barehanded the catch on second base and threw a strike to first baseman Bobby Dalbec for the second out of the inning. It was one of the prettiest double plays — you can watch it here — in recent memory for the Red Sox, and even Bogaerts couldn’t help but admire it.
“That was good. Barehand, he caught it barehand, I was like ‘Woah!,’ ” Bogaerts said after the win, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “He’s (Story’s) an athlete, man. He can do it anywhere you put him on the diamond. It was pretty cool of having that view of the bare hand, seeing him throw it there and knowing it was a double play before, I have a great view so I knew it (ahead of time).
“That’s good that this one went well. Sure-handed Story over there. I mean, it seems like he played there before,” Bogaerts said. “He made a couple double plays with (Rafael) Devers, it just feels like he’s been there for a while.”
Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck certainly appreciated it.
“… (Bogaerts) making incredible plays,” Houck said while talking about Boston’s defense. “It’s just truly amazing having an incredible infield like that. You know that they’ll scoop up anything back there.”
It also may have indicated that, in the big picture of the 2022 campaign, Bogaerts and Story should blend together rather well in the middle of Boston’s infield. The veteran shortstop acknowledged how the newly-added Story has helped make the transition easier, and seems of the belief that will continue.
“Yeah, yeah, I mean one thing I feel like he’s kind of helped me out a lot is the communication, especially on the shifts, you know?,” Bogaerts said. “I feel like for us it’s going to be a little harder because we both play shortstop so his instincts are automatically going to be like, ‘Go, go attack the ball’ or cut in front of me, you know? I think the communication with that has been huge, he’s helped me out especially in spring training, so that’s been nice.”
Bogaerts played a big part in the organization’s recruitment of Story, and plays like that Saturday prove it was a beneficial move.
