David Ortiz Passing Red Sox’s Torch to Xander Bogaerts: ‘He’s the Best Shortstop In The Game By Far’

Xander Bogaerts is having the best season of his career. Last year, Bogaerts had a batting average of.320 with 84 runs, 81 runs batted in, and seven home runs on 196 hits. It was a career-making year for Bogaerts and made him the shortstop of the future for the Boston Red Sox.

Meanwhile, David Ortiz is having similar success during the final year of his career. At the moment, it seems that Bogaerts and Ortiz are having a friendly war with each other right now to see who can have the better 2016 season. Big Papi has been nothing but supportive in trying to help Bogaerts become one of the best hitters in baseball. It’ll be quite the accomplishment for Ortiz to retire from baseball and the Red Sox as the Bogaerts era begins in Boston.

Yesterday, the Red Sox defeated the Minnesota Twins 15 to 4. Bogaerts was a pivotal force behind Boston’s win because he scored four runs on four hits with three runs batted in during the game.

That was more than enough for Ortiz, who had some high praise for Bogaerts after the game and went so far as to claim that he is “the best shortstop in the game by far” right now. The Score reported what Ortiz is thinking about Bogaerts’ season thus far.

“Dude, he’s on another level. That kid’s on another level. It’s nothing I have seen before. He’s too good. He’s way too good to believe. He’s the best shortstop in the game by far. I throw him on top of any mother—— in the game. I throw him against anyone right now in the league.”

“He’s in the top tier best players in the game right now. No question. You tell me two players better than him in the game right now, more complete than him. I don’t think there’s that many. I’m having a blast watching him play.”

There is no doubt that Bogaerts is one of the best players in baseball right now, but Ortiz brings up a good question. Are there any players in baseball that are better than Xander Bogaerts in the game today? The numbers don’t lie.

After looking at the numbers on ESPN stats, there is only one shortstop in baseball that can rival Bogaerts’ numbers. Manny Machado has returned to the Orioles with a fury. He’s having a wonderful season right now. However, aside from a having more power than Bogaerts, he’s being bested in almost every hitting category by the Red Sox shortstop. The fact is that Xander Bogaerts being the best hitting shortstop in the game is not a question, it’s a fact.

David Ortiz made a clear statement that is proven by the numbers, but if Bogaerts is the best shortstop in the game, where does that put Xander as far as best players in the game are concerned?

If you look at the numbers for all hitters in baseball, Bogaerts is third in runs scored, first in both hits and WAR, in the teens as far as runs batted in are concerned, and second in batting average only behind David Murphy of the Nationals. So, Bogaerts is having a great year and is the best hitting shortstop in the game by the numbers. That means a lot to show that Bogaerts is one of the most complete hitters in the game today, but does that qualify him as one of the best hitters in the game?

That is for the rest of Xander Bogaerts 2016 season to determine. It’s only mid-June, but he’s going to be the starting shortstop for this year’s All-Star Game barring an injury. If he can continue to hit at this level for an entire season, Bogaerts is going to be a serious contender for the Most Valuable Player award when the season ends.

[Photo By Steven Senne/AP Images]