FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Xander Bogaerts enjoyed a breakout season in 2015, leading the Red Sox in hits, batting average, games played, and at-bats.
He finished second in the A.L. with a .320 batting average, was ninth in the majors in hitting with runners in scoring position and was selected as a finalist for the A.L. Gold Glove at shortstop.
“I think the challenges that he went through in 2014 really put him in position to understand who he is as a player,” said manager John Farrell. “He came with such high billing, such great expectations after the post-season run of '13, and yet he was a young player, understanding what it took to play every day at the big league level.
“He handled those challenges and has came out the other side much improved.”
From a personal perspective, Bogaerts did everything he could have hoped to accomplish in 2015 except hit for power, managing just seven homers. And given that power is often the last skill for a young player to refine, it's natural that that will reveal itself this season, right?
Maybe.
“The one thing we don't want to focus on, so much has been made about the power,” cautioned Farrell. “You know what? That will come in due time. We'd love for him to have a repeat year of last year. He had an outstanding year for us last year.”
Boston Red Sox
That's the same message being delivered by hitting coach Chili Davis, who simply wants to see the same consistency and approach that Bogaerts demonstrated a year ago.
“I don't agree that the next step is the power,” said Davis. “I think the next step for him is the focus, to maintain the trust and the focus in what he did last year. Not the numbers - just the focus. Because he was so focused at the plate last year. He understood that with his swing, he can hit it through the 3-4 hole, he can take it up the middle, he can pull it. And he trusted that.
“So the next step this year is to do that again. Not the numbers, but to maintain that same approach. Would I like to see the power happen? It would be great. If it doesn't happen, and he maintains (all the other facets of his offensive game), I'm going to trust that more than saying to him, 'Let's add the power to it.' Because then it's a whole mentality change, a whole swing change. No. Let's just stuck with what we have.”
Davis is relieved that Bogaerts hasn't shown any signs that he is feeling self-induced pressure to become a home run hitter. He's keeping his same, level approach in the batting cage and in batting practice, doing the things that made last year such a success.
“He hasn't changed a thing,” said Davis. “When you come off a bad year, there's that motivation to get better. When you come off a really good year, there's that concern: Can I do that again? Our job is to remind him, 'This is how you did it last year; let's just stick with the program and see what happens this year.
“Can he do it again? Hell, he might be better. You never know. But let's not try to match the numbers or add to the power numbers. When the home runs happen, they come in bunches and when they start happening, don't fall in love with them. Keep hitting your line drives and they'll show up.”
The minor details that Davis observed last year -- how the shortstop became much more confident with two strikes; how he learned to handle fastballs in; how he laid off breaking pitches out of the strike zone and cut down his strikeouts significantly -- are more important than increasing his home run totals.
“When you're getting 198 hits, that's a lot of hits,” remarked Davis. And eventually, Davis believes, that power will manifest itself. At 23, Bogaerts is still maturing and his frame (6-2, 215 pounds) makes him strong enough to drive the ball more.
“I've looked at video and he's got power to all fields,” said Davis. “And he shows it sometimes in BP. As long as he's not coming out his swing path, it'll happen.”