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Friday, November 02, 2012
The next great Red Sox? Xander Bogaerts can hit. No question there.
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His overall line of a .307 average with a .373 OBP, .523 slugging mark and .896 OPS in his first full pro season (Bogaerts started 2011 in extended spring training before playing a half-year at Greenville) is little short of astonishing given the fact that he A) spent most of the year in a league (Carolina) and home ballpark (Salem’s LewisGale Field) that are hostile to offense, and B) was the second-youngest position player in the Carolina League and the youngest in the Double-A Eastern League.
“He’s a special kid. It’s amazing how every year he gets better. You talk about being 19 years old, he’s got a lot of road ahead of him to get better,” Red Sox minor league hitting coordinator Victor Rodriguez said. “He got to the next level and he was able to put it together there, make adjustments in games, slow things down and continue to do what he was doing in Salem. It was impressive how he handled himself with Double-A pitching.”
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1. Gamingboy Posted: November 02, 2012 at 04:54 PM (#4291127)Now now, with interleague play I'm sure Igelsias will be outhit by AL pitchers for many years to come.
edit...If he stays healthy.
This perception seems to be changing. The issue with Bogaerts is his size (6'3, 180 now, but only 19 years old) not ability. Everything I've read about him lately says that he's capable of playing the position as long as he doesn't fill out too much. It seems there is a pretty decent chance he at least starts his career as a shortstop (in part due to Middlebrooks) before moving. If nothing else there is no urgency to move him off shortstop.
The other thing about him, and again, just from reading a lot about him, is he is a smart kid with a good work ethic.
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