Appearing on the Bradfo Sho just prior to the 2022 season, Xander Bogaerts pointed to the improvement he made defensively in the final two months of the previous campaign.
Now it can be documented that people took notice of how that translated into Bogaerts' most recent season.
The finalists for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award at each position were released Thursday afternoon, with Bogaerts joining Carlos Correa and Jeremy Pena as the American League shortstops still in the mix for the big league's top fielding honor.
For the first time in his career, Bogaerts finished in the positive category for defensive runs saved (4), while turning the best ultimate zone rating (4.9) in his time in the big leagues, more than doubling up his previous best.
Going by the DRS metric, Pena would seem to be running away with the award, coming in at 15, which was 11 better than Bogaerts and 12 ahead of Correa.
This marks the first time since 2015 Bogaerts has been a finalist for the award.
