What to expect from the Dutchies this year? Xander Bogaerts

With Spring Training around the corner it is time to see how the players from the Kingdom of the Netherlands will do in the upcoming season. Of course there is no crystal ball and it is still up in the air, but in general you can make a decent prediction based on the performance of previous years.

Compared to the other two MLB shorstops from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Andrelton Simmons and Didi Gregorius, Xander may not be as good defensively (even though he is still a stellar shorstop), but for sure he is the best hitter of the three.

The Aruba native was signed by the Red Sox in 2009 as an amateur free agent for a signing bonus of $410,000. He debuted in 2010 in professional baseball in the Dominican Summer League. In 2013, what was only his fourth professional season, he debuted with the Red Sox. On August 19 he was called up to the Majors and one day later he debuted with the Red Sox. In the final months of the 2013 season he played flawless baseball, eight games at short stop and nine at third base.

The next season, Bogaerts was the starting shortstop for the Red Sox until they re-signed Stephen Drew. Bogaerts was put on third, but never really florished there. Drew had a miserable season and after the Red Sox traded him to the Yankees, Xander was put back on his natural position where he finished the season with a .975 fielding percentage.

Even though Xander hit very well in the minors, he did not pan out in the Majors in 2013 and 2014 as he hit .250 and .240 respectively. But 2015 would be his break out year.
He started the season like a lightning bolt as he hit .433 after seven games. But then he slowed down and hit .274 at the end of April. But in the month of June, Xander started to see the ball well as he hit .312 for the month and raised  his season average to .289.
On July 3rd he hit the .300 mark again and never got lower again for the rest of the season.
Xander finished the 2015 campaign with a .320 batting average, second to only Miguel Cabrera for the American League batting title, and by far the best average of the Red Sox players. This earned him the silver slugger award for the position of shortstop.

So what can we expect from Xander in the upcoming season?  Based on his last season, 2016 probably will be a similar one. From July his batting average rose and floated around .320-.325, even though his month average in October  was only .167. He has proven that he can hit for the average. It is to be expected that he will hit around .300 again.

Even though Gregorius and Simmons may the better shorstops form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Bogaerts is a stellar shorstop. Of the AL shortstops,he posted a .984 fielding percentage, only second to J.J. Hardy who had a .993 fielding percentage. Since he is only 23, his defense can only improve.

As Xander will not be a free agent until 2020, the Red Sox will reap the fruits from signing him for the coming years. Despite the fact that he prefers to stay at the background, with Big Papi retiring after this season, Xander may be the future star of the Red Sox.