Xander Bogaerts' participation in last season's Spring Training 1.0 was limited because of a nagging foot problem, limiting the shortstop to just seven games before camp was shut down.
For a second straight year, Bogaerts is forced to delay things.
Alex Cora revealed Monday morning that Bogaerts is fighting a sore shoulder, with the team erring on the side of caution when it comes to introducing the veteran into Grapefruit League games.
"With Xander, he’s a little bit banged up – his shoulder," Cora said. "We do feel that he’s progressing right now. We shut him down for a little bit. He rushed himself with his throwing program during the offseason. With everything that is going on with the virus, there were a few things that he wasn’t able to do in Aruba because of lockdowns or whatever they had going on down there for the right reasons. So it wasn’t a regular offseason in that end. He was able to hit and all that, but his throwing program wasn’t perfect. So he rushed himself. He was sore for a few days. We shut him down. He should be back to throwing in the next couple of days. He will take groundballs and all that. The hitting part, he’ll be OK in a few days, too. We’ve just got to be patient. We’ve got plenty of days. We’ve got, what, 30 more days? So as of now, we do feel he should be ready for Opening Day."
Playing in the place of Bogaerts in Monday's spring training home opener against the Braves is Christian Arroyo, who has played shortstop 12 times during his big league career.
With Bogaerts out, it allows for greater looks at Arroyo, who is out of options while trying to make the 26-man roster.
"He made some strides offensively," said Cora of the 25-year-old. "That’s what everybody feels, right, last year. He’s a good defender at second base. I watched a lot. He’s able to turn the double play but versatility is going to be a factor and he knows it. We do believe he can handle short. He can make all the routine plays and let’s see how much the offense is going to be a part of his game. But yesterday he had two good at-bats, drove one to center field. Physically he’s a lot better than where he was last year.
"A better athlete than what I thought watching on TV and I recruited Christian for the ‘17 WBC when he was with the Giants, just recruited him, he was probably going to be on the bench with all those guys we had in the infield so I know the player a little bit but now that I’m able to see him, he looks a lot better than what you see on TV. Better athlete, he can move so it’s up to him. He’s been challenged his whole career. Let’s put it that way. He was a top prospect. There were some roadblocks there with (Brandon) Crawford and (Joe) Panik while they were winning championships and it hasn't been easy but he feels very comfortable with the group and he’s going to have every chance to make this team."
