Xander Bogaerts' first taste of major league spring training came to an end Monday afternoon, when the Red Sox reassigned him to minor league camp. Jonathan Diaz and Drew Sutton were also cut.
SARASOTA, Fla. — Xander Bogaerts' first taste of major league spring training came to an end Monday afternoon, when the Red Sox reassigned him to minor league camp.
Jonathan Diaz and Drew Sutton were also cut.
Bogaerts struck out in his only at-bat Monday in a 12-9 road loss to the Orioles. He didn't end up seeing all that much action in big-league camp, even though he's being cut so late, because of the World Baseball Classic. His Grapefruit League numbers were modest: 2-for-7 with a walk, no extra-base hits, three strikeouts in five games.
Bogaerts hit .263 (5-for-19) with a pair of doubles, three walks and three strike outs in seven WBC games. When you combine his Sox action with his WBC games, his spring average was .269 (7-for-26).
At age 20, of course, it was just about the experience.
Bert Blyleven, the Twins broadcaster and Hall of Fame pitcher, was a coach for the Netherlands in the WBC, and he liked what he saw from not only Bogaerts, but Rangers shortstop Jurickson Profar and Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons.
"Guy can play. He's got power," Blyleven said Sunday of Bogaerts in Fort Myers. "He can play all three positions (on the infield) ... he's a good kid, he worked his (rear) off in the WBC. I think when we got Profar, it kind of put Bogaerts on the bench a little bit, but pretty nice addition.
"Bo can be right there with him. He seems to have very good work habits. He and Simons and Scoop, it was almost like watching the Harlem Globetrotters take infield after they do all their drills, and now the last five, 10 minutes, they throw balls between their legs at second base. They were fun, they were fun to watch."
Officially, the Sox roster lists 39 in major league camp, including six non-roster invitees. Those numbers include folks like Ryan Kalish, Mitch Maier and Craig Breslow, who are hurt.
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