Sunday Notes: Still a Shortstop, Xander Bogaerts Is Approaching Milestones

Xander Bogaerts is on the verge of multiple milestones. Barring injury, the 33-year-old San Diego Padres shortstop will reach and surpass 400 doubles, 200 home runs, and 1,000 runs scored this season. He also has a shot at 2,000 hits, needing 178 more to arrive at that mark. And then there is the defensive side of the equation. Defying most expectations, Bogaerts is on the doorstep of having started 1,500 games at his middle-of-the-infield position.

As you may recall, Bogaerts’s bat was his calling card when he ranked as the top prospect in the Boston Red Sox system. Few doubted his ability to hit, but the likelihood that he would remain a shortstop was another story. Echoing the opinion of many throughout the industry, our December 2011 writeup of the then-19-year-old Oranjestad, Aruba native included the following:

“Defensively he plays a solid shortstop but he’s expected to slow down and shift over to third base before he reaches the majors.”

I’ve addressed that possibility with Bogaerts multiple times over the years, initially for a print-publication story I wrote when he was in Double-A. Quoting a scout, I titled the piece, “Looks Like a Shortstop to Me.”

All these years later, Bogaerts recalls the conjecture surrounding his future in the field. When I caught up to him at Padres camp last weekend, it was the first thing he mentioned when I posed this question: Had you been told at age 20 that your career would follow the path it has, would anything have surprised you?

“Yes,” Bogaerts replied. “Maybe a different position. A lot people thought I would have moved on. Back then, I was kind of known as a hitter, so I had to really work hard if I wanted to stay there.”

A followup was in order. Did he think he would end up transitioning away from the position he’d grown up playing?

“Maybe outgrow it, yes,” Bogaerts admitted. “Play bad enough that I had to move, no. But outgrow… I was skinny then. You can see how much weight I’ve put on since my minor-league days. People probably projected that I would get bigger, and I imagine they based their opinions on that. But I’ve tried to maintain my quickness, my speed, stay lean. I’ve been able to stay a shortstop.”

As for what he’s gone on to do with the bat, Bogaerts was his humble self when asked about the milestones he’s about to reach.

“When you’re young, you hope you’ll have something like that,” said Bogaerts, who has a 115 wRC+ and 43.9 WAR for his career. “You hope, but you don’t really know. I’ve been very blessed, and I am very happy. Could it be better? Always it can be. We could all be better. I’m just trying to maintain and continue as I get older.”

Bogaerts has eight years remaining on the free-agent contract he signed with the Padres prior to the 2023 season, and while he may or may not retain the skills needed to play that long — at any position — one thing is certain. He remains a kid at heart.

“I still love the game,” Bogaerts told me. “Some guys play for a certain amount of time and are like, ‘No, I’m done; I want to do something else.’ But I really enjoy it. I even enjoy some of the headaches that this game can bring, the struggles that you go through. Everything is easy when things are going well. You show up, get a couple of hits. But when it’s not, there is the homework you need to do to overcome that. I enjoy that homework. I mean, I enjoy the game as much as I did when I was young. I go home, I watch baseball. Some guys go home and don’t want to look at baseball. I’ll play as long as I can.”

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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS

Rondell White went 11 for 15 against Sterling Hitchcock.

Mickey Vernon went 11 for 15 against Bob Trice.

Ned Yost went 10 for 12 against Tommy John.

Gary Carter went 10 for 14 against Donnie Moore.

Amos Otis went 10 for 16 against Woodie Fryman.

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Colt Emerson was a highly-regarded 19-year-old shortstop in the Seattle Mariners system when he was featured in Sunday Notes on December 8, 2024. Fifteen months later, he is even more highly regarded. On the heels of a 2025 season that saw him put up a 129 wRC+ across three levels, Emerson ranks 11th on our 2026 Top 100 Prospects list.

How does he differ from the teenager I talked to during his erstwhile Arizona Fall League stint?

“I’m a little smarter, a little stronger,” Emerson told me at Seattle’s spring training complex last week. “Obviously a little older. That’s about it, really. I try to keep things as simple as possible. It’s been a good first few years. I’ve had great teammates and great coaches. Honestly, I’ve just been finding myself, figuring things out in an org that has been nothing but great to me.”

The young hitter has been growing into his power — his left-handed stroke propelled 16 home runs last year — but not because he’s been packing on pounds. Emerson still tips the scales in the 185 range, and, as he explained, “weight doesn’t necessarily mean you’re strong.” He credits strength-and-conditioning training that helps keep him lean and agile, allowing him to handle the shortstop position.

He also hasn’t made any mechanical adjustments for the purpose of adding juice to his offensive profile. Emerson did switch from a leg kick to a toe tap about halfway through last season, but that was about consistency, not added power. As he put it, “I have confidence in my swing that if I barrel the ball, it can go out. I just want to have the same [mechanics] every time.”

When we spoke in 2024, Emerson told me that “hitting is hard.” Does he still feel that way?

“For sure,” he said. “Hitting is always hard. Anybody who says that it is easy is lying. I mean, at the end of the day, we’re all competitors. I never want to let the pitcher beat me, but it’s going to happen more often than not.”

What isn’t going to happen very often is his making a miscue while fielding a batted ball. That’s not to suggest Emerson is the second coming of Ozzie Smith or Omar Vizquel, but he profiles as solid. As stated in his Top 100 Prospects writeup, “Defensively the arrow is up.” As for the degree to which he’s improved, that’s a matter of opinion.

“I think my defense has always been there,” Emerson said. “People can say what they want, but at the end of the day, I have confidence in my glove. Like I said, the organization has been really great to me. I’ve been able to learn from a lot of great guys. Bone [infield coach Perry Hill] says, ‘If you want to be a great infielder, you can’t get bored with fundamentals.’ I really take pride in making the plays in the box — think about a box four feet by four feet square — making the routine plays every time. You’ve got to do that at every position, every single time. I feel I can do that.”

Which brings us to Emerson’s arrival time in Seattle. Still just 20 years old, is he ready for the big leagues? It depends on how you parse the question. Ultimately, if you’re good enough, you’re old enough.

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A quiz:

Carl Yastrzemski had 2,262 singles, the most in Boston Red Sox franchise history. Who ranks second in that category on the team’s all-time list? (A hit: he ranks third in total number of hits.)

The answer can be found below.

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NEWS NOTES

MLB has promoted two umpires, Tom Hanahan and Brian Walsh, to full-time positions. They are replacing Mark Carlson and Phil Cuzzi, who have retired after 26.5 and 27 seasons respectively. In a related move, Jordan Baker has been promoted to crew chief, a role that Carlson had held.

Bruce Froemming, an MLB umpire from 1971-2007, died earlier this week at age 86. The Milwaukee native called 5,163 games, third-most in history behind Joe West (5,460) and Bill Klem (5,375). Froemming was on the field for 11 no-hitters.

Wayne Granger, a right-handed reliever who appeared in 451 games while pitching for seven teams across the 1968-1976 seasons, died earlier this week at age 81. A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, Granger was credited with 108 saves, including an NL-best 35 for the Cincinnati Reds in 1970.

Chris Krug, a catcher who appeared in 79 games while playing for the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres across the 1965-1969 seasons, died last month at age 86. Later a coach and a minor-league manager, Krug counted five home runs, all as a Cub, among his 41 MLB hits.

The winners of the 2026 SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards were announced yesterday. The news can be found here.

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The answer to the quiz is Jim Rice, with 1,618 singles. If you guessed Wade Boggs or Ted Williams, they ranked third and fourth respectively.

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Left on the cutting-room floor from my recent conversation with Ryan Waldschmidt was what he told me about his draft experience. Now the organization’s top-ranked prospect, Waldschmidt was selected 31st overall in 2024 by the Arizona Diamondbacks out of the University of Kentucky.

“My agents received a lot of calls from anywhere between 15 and when I got picked,” recalled the 23-year-old outfielder, who — along with topping the D-Backs rankings — is 35th on our 2026 100 Top Prospects list. “There were some second-option scenarios, with people saying, ‘If this guy gets picked, we’re going to take you.’ Things didn’t follow in my favor, I guess, but at the end of the day, I fell into the right spot. I feel that I got picked by the right team.”

Waldschmidt had a pre-draft interview with the Diamondbacks that he felt went especially well, so he knew that there was serious interest. Even so, he “didn’t really hear from them much on draft day,” increasing the likelihood — at least in his mind — that he would be going elsewhere. As is always the case with the amateur draft, prospective signing bonuses were also at play.

“I had a couple of teams offer deals for later on if I wanted to wait for the second round,” Waldschmidt told me. “They were offering me more money than a [later round] first-round pick would get, so I had a little bit of leverage on some of those other teams. What I understand is that the Diamondbacks were willing to give me around the same amount with their pick, at 31 (Arizona also had the 29th overall pick, which they used to select Slade Caldwell.) They may have had their draft-strategy plan in place, where if I was still there, they would take me.”

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A random obscure former player snapshot:

Troy Mattes has the highest batting average in Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals franchise history among players with at least 15 plate appearances. A right-handed pitcher whose MLB career comprised eight games for the Expos in 2001, Mattes went 7-for-15 (.467) with a double and one sacrifice hit. On June 19 of that year, he went 3-for-4 while also hurling seven innings for the win in a 12-3 pummeling of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

His best mound effort came ten days earlier in his major-league debut when he tossed seven shutout frames in a contest the Expos ultimately lost to the New York Mets. Mattes’s overall pitching record wasn’t nearly as impressive as his debut performance (nor as his 162 wRC+ as a hitter). Over 45 innings, he logged a 6.00 ERA, a 6.16 FIP, and was taken deep nine times. His won-loss record was 3-3.

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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE

The Athletic’s Andrew Baggerly wrote about how Daniel Susac is hoping to turn a Rule 5 opportunity into a dream debut with the San Francisco Giants.

MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, Sam Dykstra, and Jonathan Mayo teamed up to give us each team’s top power-hitting prospect.

MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson sees a Cy Young Award lurking in Dylan Cease’s right arm.

Jose Ferrer hopes to bring fun and ‘muchos ceros’ to the Mariners bullpen. Shannon Drayer has the story at Seattle Sports.

The Detroit Tigers toured Japan in 1962. Andrew Forbes wrote about it for SABR’s Asian Baseball blog.

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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS


Colorado Rockies prospect Charlie Condon is 7-for-13 with three home runs so far this spring. TJ Rumfield, another Rockies prospect, is 5-for-12 with three home runs.

The Athletics’ 40-man roster includes 12 players drafted by the A’s, two signed as international free agents, 15 acquired via trade, five claimed off waivers, and six signed as free agents (four to an MLB contract, two to a minor-league contract).

Garrett Crochet and Cristopher Sánchez each made 32 starts last season. Crochet had a 2.59 ERA over 205-and-a-third innings. Sanchez had a 2.50 ERA over 202 innings.

Logan Webb leads all pitchers in games started (132) and innings pitched (820) over the past four seasons. He ranks second in WAR (19.1) and fifth in FIP (2.94).

Bruce Kison threw 20 scoreless innings in his first seven postseason appearances. The Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander went 4-0 in those games, with one of the wins coming in the 1971 World Series. All told, the lanky right-hander toed the rubber 10 times in the postseason, going 5-1 with a 1.98 ERA.

The St. Louis Cardinals signed Willie Montanez as an amateur free agent on today’s date in 1965. Five years later, the left-handed-hitting outfielder/first baseman was sent to the Phillies as a PTBNL substitute for Curt Flood, who had refused to report after being traded from St. Louis to Philadelphia. A Phillie for parts of seven seasons, Montanez finished his 14-year career with 1,604 hits, 139 home runs, and a 99 wRC+.

Players born on today’s date include Chris Barnwell, an infielder who appeared in 13 games for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2006. A native of Jacksonville, Florida who played for Team Canada in the 2009 World Baseball Classic — his father was from Nova Scotia — Barnwell went 2-for-30 and swiped one base during his MLB cup of coffee.

Also born on today’s date was Farmer Vaughn, a native of Ruraldale, Ohio who played for five teams, primarily the National League’s Cincinnati Reds, across the 1886-1899 seasons. A catcher/first baseman/outfielder, Vaughn suited up for a pair of American Association clubs in 1981, one of them the Cincinnati Kelly’s Killers.