The Red Sox play a handful of teams over the final month of the season that are trying to secure a spot in the 2022 Major League Baseball playoffs.
Xander Bogaerts isn't going to make that effort easy for those clubs.
Bogaerts has been on an absolute tear with the bat of late and he's put himself in position to potentially win the American League batting title by regular season's end. Boston's star shortstop collected multiple hits in nine of his last 10 games, a stretch that saw Bogaerts raise his batting average by 16 (!) points.
Alex Cora has been around Bogaerts long enough to know when the four-time All-Star is really feeling it in the batter's box. The Red Sox manager believes Bogaerts currently is in that groove, which doesn't bode well for the opposition.
"I do believe, finally, he feels good at the plate now, which is very dangerous," Cora told reporters after Sunday's 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers, per MassLive. "He's driving the ball to right field. His swing decisions are a lot better compared to a few weeks ago. He's swinging at the right pitches. It's a lot of work. It has been hard for him to find his rhythm. Now, you can tell that he feels good about his hands and his balance and everything. He's not panicking right away and swinging at pitches out of the zone. He's on a good roll."
Bogaerts will try to keep it rolling Monday when the Red Sox and the Rays start a three-game series at Tropicana Field. NESN's full coverage of the opener begins at 3 p.m. ET.
