The question posed to Xander Bogaerts in Fort Myers was straightforward, and so was his answer.
Q. "Have we seen the best of you?"
A. "No. No. No. Every year you learn something different. The good thing is I'm still young. But no. I'm looking forward to this year. I know I have a lot more in me and it will all come together."
Whatever Bogaerts thought he meant by that answer, it's hard to imagine even he envisioned *this*. A week into the season, Bogaerts might be the breakout star of baseball, and that's saying something for someone who already owns a World Series ring, All-Star appearance, and two Silver Sluggers.
On Saturday against the Rays, Bogaerts continued his assault on opposing pitchers. He doubled in his first at-bat and launched a grand slam over everything in his second to lead the Red Sox to a 10-3 victory.
Whether it's increasing his launch angle, targeting fastballs earlier in the count, or aging into his prime, Bogaerts appears poised to deliver on the promise that once made him the organization's top prospect since Nomar Garciaparra.
He's hitting .371 with a league-leading seven doubles and nine extra-base hits, as well as an 1.148 OPS.
"He's on time, swinging at good pitches, getting in good counts, doing everything right," said teammate Mookie Betts, who's off to a scorching start of his own. "It just shows what kind of hitter he is. Those who saw Bogey in the minors knew what he could do. I had an idea of what he could do. It was just a matter of him showing it."
It shouldn't come as a surprise. In a league where Houston's Carlos Correia and Cleveland's Francisco Lindor have emerged as the preeminent shortstops, there's no reason Bogaerts can't stand alongside them.
"You see all these kids at shortstop now, (Colorado's Trevor) Story and Carlos and Francisco, how physical they are," manager Alex Cora said. "He's a great athlete. If he puts himself body-wise in a good position, he's going to keep doing that."
Bogaerts has always taken a longer view, however.
"I've accomplished a little bit," he said this spring. "I have. When you think of it, from Aruba. I look at it in the big picture. Aruba is a small place, man. If you go over there and say hey, are there going to be 10 big league guys over there, it might be hard. To be from a small place like that and be an inspiration to the kids over there, that's bigger than a lot of other stuff."
Bogaerts feels a responsibility to his island nation. He remembers watching big leaguers like Andruw Jones and Sidney Ponson when they came home in the offseason, and he still counts an interaction with Jones as a young boy among his most important memories.
The Braves All-Star and Gold Glove winner was hosting a clinic in Aruba when Bogaerts called out for an autograph.
"I was kid. Maybe nine or 10 years old," Bogaerts said. "They had this celebrity softball tournament back home, where they got a lot of big league guys to play. Magglio Ordonez went one year. Andruw Jones and Sidney, they had connections in the big leagues at that time, so they'd invite guys down. I was close to the dugout, just like a fan, hey, sign this, sign this. And he signed my phone."
Wait, your phone?
"I didn't even have a case," Bogaerts said with a laugh. "I'm not even kidding you. It was a Sony Ericsson, and it was silver. I think he had a Sharpie, he didn't even know me at the time. He signed the back of it. That's why you've got to think about how the fans will look at you once you get big. That's a situation, over 10 years ago, and I still remember it.
"Once you go back home, it's really, really appreciated. You can't go anywhere -- the supermarket, anything -- these little kids all know you and want to be you," Bogaerts added. "Andruw Jones played every day, was a superstar every day, so we saw him a lot. To this day, whenever I'm in the outfield, I think I'm Andruw Jones, man. You can see kids being like that (with me) once they start getting bigger."
He's certainly worth emulating at the moment. Saturday's home run was the sixth ball he has perfectly barreled this year, matching his total from 2017, when he hit .273 with 10 homers.
"I think last year, everybody forgot about it," Bogaerts said. "This is a new year. I think our focus should be on this year, the group of guys we have. We have something really great going on right now. Hopefully we can continue on this here, day by day with the guys here and this team and going forward."
And who knows? The way things are going now, we may yet see the best Bogaerts has to offer.
