Everyone seems pretty certain that Xander Bogaerts is a
special player. He’ll be a star in the heart of the Red Sox line-up for years
to com.
What has recently been a little less certain, is his
position. Can he be the Red Sox shortstop? Is he too big? Is he too clunky?
What will happen?
Some of this is natural comparison by all of us. The last
two regular shortstops for the Sox were Jose Iglesias and Stephen Drew.
Iglesias may be the flashiest, fun to watch shortstop the Sox have had. While
Drew wasn’t flashy, he was a very good defender who earned his spot in the
postseason line-up almost solely because of his glove.
So, it’s natural that we would look at Bogaerts as something
less than good. I’d wager that every error he has made this year would have
been an easy play by either of the two that came before him. That gets
frustrating, especially when it’s a critical error at a critical time. But,
that’s not fair.
Nor is it necessary.
Sure, Bogaerts is having some growing pains. He has to learn
how to play defense in the major leagues. He has to adjust to faster runners.
Instead of remembering which guy on the other team was speedy, most of the
other team is speedy. The whole game is just a little faster. So, he needs to
figure out how to speed things up, instead of being surprised that a guy is
almost to first. That’ll take just a little time.
I’m not suggesting he’ll turn into Ozzie Smith. His minor
league career doesn’t imply anything like that. But, he’ll be solid. Heck, he
already is solid. He’ll make the plays he’s supposed to make. If he’s going to
hit the way everyone thinks he will, that’s all you need from him on the field.
In the meantime? It stinks when his errors are hurtful. Especially
since those are the ones everyone seems to remember. With any luck, the rest of
his learning curve consists of bases empty errors with two outs. Those
certainly hurt a lot less than with two on in the ninth. But, I suspect over
the season his bat will win the Red Sox many more games than his glove costs
them.
Many many more.
The thing I always come back to is that he won't even turn 22 until October 1st. He is still younger than most players in AA. His defense will improve. It's something that can be worked on and he is coachable with one of the best infield coaches in baseball.
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