Xander Bogaerts Finds Himself on the Top Ten Shortstops Right Now List, but Where?

MLB Network released its Top Ten Shortstops Right Now list, and the results weren’t too surprising. Obviously, Red Sox fans want to know where Xander Bogaerts was ranked. You would assume that because the Red Sox weren’t in contention last year, guys like Fernando Tatis Jr. would get more attention.

While that is true, it’s hard to argue that “The Shredder” didn’t give Bogaerts the respect he deserves. He was ranked as the third-ranked shortstop in the league, in front of guys like Francisco Lindor, Corey Seager, Trea Turner, and Carlos Correa.

While I believe that Lindor should be ahead of Bogaerts, Xander still had a great 2020 considering he wasn’t on a contender and didn’t have much help around him. Andrew Benintendi was hurt for the majority of the season and J.D. Martinez was struggling without any video to watch during games.

Bogaerts hit exactly .300 with an OPS of .867 and reached double digits in home runs for the fifth straight season. An encouraging sign is Baseball-Reference is projecting Bogaerts to have another great season, as he is supposed to hit 25 home runs and own a slugging percentage of at least .500 for the fourth consecutive year.

(Photo: Michael Dwyer/AP)