Xander Bogaerts’ leap to greatness has held in the second half

Earlier this week, I looked at what I believe has been one of the biggest differences between this year’s great team and last year’s very good squad. That was David Price, who proved once again on Wednesday that the dude is good. Of course, as I acknowledged in the linked post, the offense has really been the difference between the two squads. The bats are a much bigger threat this year, and justifiably most of the hype has been in the two stars competing for MVP votes. That said, the star power hasn’t been quite as overwhelming in the second half (though Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez have still obviously been outstanding) and some other guys have taken the spotlight at different times. Through all of that, there’s only been one guy to really stand out other than the MVP candidates, however. That’s been Xander Bogaerts, who has stepped up this year however and whenever the team has needed him. That he’s doing this in the second half is a huge difference from earlier in his career, and it shows that his development might be complete.

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