Xander Bogaerts

Xander Bogaerts
Bogaerts during the 2013 World Series victory parade
Boston Red Sox – No. 2
Shortstop
Born: (1992-10-01) October 1, 1992 Oranjestad, Aruba
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 20, 2013, for the Boston Red Sox
MLB statistics (through 2016 season)
Batting average	.286
Home runs	41
Runs batted in	221
Stolen bases	26
Teams
Boston Red Sox (2013–present)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star (2016) World Series champion (2013) 2× Silver Slugger Award (2015, 2016)

Xander Bogaerts

Bogaerts playing for the Netherlands national team in 2013 World Baseball Classic
Medal record
Men’s Baseball
Representing  Netherlands
Baseball World Cup
	2011 Panama	National team

Xander Jan Bogaerts, OON (Papiamento pronunciation: [ˈsandər ˈboxarts]; born October 1, 1992) nicknamed The X-Man, is an Aruban professional baseball shortstop for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball.

After being signed as an amateur free agent by the Red Sox in 2009, Bogaerts made his MLB debut in 2013, appearing in 30 games between the regular season and postseason, and helping the Red Sox to the World Series championship. He became the Red Sox' starting shortstop in 2014, and in 2015 was awarded the American League Silver Slugger award at the position.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Mike Lord, a scout for the Boston Red Sox, discovered Bogaerts at the age of 16, in 2009. After not playing baseball for two weeks due to the chicken pox, Bogaerts played for Lord, who recommended him to Craig Shipley, the Red Sox' vice president of international scouting. Shipley flew to Aruba to watch Bogaerts play. The Red Sox signed him to a contract with a $410,000 signing bonus.^[1]

Bogaerts made his professional debut in 2010 with the Dominican Summer League (DSL) Red Sox, where he batted .314 with a .396 on-base percentage (OBP) and .423 slugging percentage (SLG). He led the DSL Red Sox in batting average, hits (75), home runs (3), runs batted in (RBI) (42), total bases (101), slugging and on-base plus slugging (OPS). He was fifth in the DSL in RBI and tenth in total bases. He had a .929 fielding percentage. The next year, at age 18, Bogaerts played in a full-season league for the Greenville Drive of the Class A South Atlantic League, with a .260 batting average, .324 OBP and .509 SLG, fielding .924 and hitting 16 home runs in 72 games. He then joined the Dutch national team for the 2011 Baseball World Cup, winning the gold medal.^[2]

During the 2012 season, Bogaerts started out in Class-A and ended up playing with the Portland Sea Dogs of the Class AA Eastern League.^[3] He was named to appear in the 2012 All-Star Futures Game.^[4] He played for the Netherlands national baseball team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.^[5]

Heading into the 2013 season, Bogaerts was ranked the fifth overall prospect by ESPN's Keith Law, who described him as "Still just 20 years old, Bogaerts has been playing solid shortstop for Portland with a solid walk rate but isn't yet generating the power expected from his explosive swing."^[6] Entering 2013, Bogaerts ranked 6th in the MLB.com Top 100 Prospects list,^[7] and 8th in the Baseball America Top 100 Prospects list.^[8]

Boston Red Sox (2013-present)

2013

He started the season with Portland and was promoted to the Pawtucket Red Sox of the Triple-A International League in mid-June.^[9] The Red Sox promoted Bogaerts to the major leagues on August 19.^[10] Bogaerts made his MLB debut on August 20 against the San Francisco Giants. He got his first major league hit five days later against the Los Angeles Dodgers. On September 7, Bogaerts hit his first MLB home run against New York Yankees pitcher Jim Miller.^[11] At the end of the 2013 Minor League season, Bogaerts gained USA Today Minor League Player of the Year honors and was named to the 2013 Baseball America Minor League All-Star Team. During his brief stint in the Majors of 2013, Bogaerts appeared in 18 games batting .250 with a home run, 5 RBI, and a stolen base.

Despite debuting late in the season, Bogaerts was part of the 25-man active roster during the postseason run. Bogaerts had a strong performance in the postseason as he batted .296 with 2 RBI in 12 postseason games, eventually leading to the Red Sox winning their eighth overall World Series.^[12]Bogaerts also became the youngest player to hit a triple in World Series history.

2014

Bogaerts started the year as the starting shortstop for the Boston Red Sox on 3/31/14 against the Baltimore Orioles. On May 29, Bogaerts had his first walk-off plate appearance on a throwing error by Atlanta Braves third baseman Chris Johnson, allowing Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr to reach home. On June 2, Bogaerts was moved back to third base after the Red Sox resigned Stephen Drew. He was moved back to short once again when the Red Sox traded Drew to the rival New York Yankees at the trading deadline on July 31, 2014.

2015

Bogaerts broke out in 2015, leading the Red Sox with a career-high .320 average, finishing second only to Miguel Cabrera for the AL batting title. From late July, Bogaerts began to bat second or third exclusively.^[13] He was awarded the Silver Slugger award for shortstop.^[14] On top of his breakout offense, Bogaerts was also a finalist for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award at shortstop.

2016

In 2016 Bogaerts again began the season as the Red Sox' starting shortstop, primarily batting third. .^[15] Between May 6 and June 2, Bogaerts hit safely in 26 consecutive games. His hitting streak came to an end in a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on June 3. In 2016 he was chosen to play in his first ever MLB All Star Game of his career ^[16] Bogaerts finished the season batting .294 and was once again given the American League's shortstop Silver Slugger Award.

Personal life

Xander has a twin brother, Jair.^[17] Jair also signed with the Red Sox as an international free agent. He was sent to the Chicago Cubs prior to the 2012 season to complete the compensation regarding Theo Epstein.^[17]

Xander Bogaerts is the fifth Aruban to play in MLB, following Sidney Ponson, Calvin Maduro, Gene Kingsale, and Radhames Dykhoff. In 2011, after winning the gold medal in the Baseball World Cup, Bogaerts was inducted into the Knights Order of Orange-Nassau by the Governor of Aruba.^[2][18] Bogaerts speaks four languages: English, Spanish, Dutch and Papiamento, the latter two being Aruba's official languages.^[19]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Xander Bogaerts.

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Xander Bogaerts on Twitter