The left wrist and shoulder of Xander Bogaerts haven’t been the same since colliding with Alex Verdugo on May 20. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported on the hardships Xander Bogaerts deals with as a result of that collision.
Bogaerts needed cortisone shots in both his wrist and shoulder to reduce swelling, which has helped but doesn’t heal the injury.
Bogaerts occasionally heads to the batting cage in the middle of games to work on his swing mechanics because the injury altered it so much.
“I feel pretty OK,” Bogaerts said, via Speier. “The messed-up part with that is you start changing your mechanics, where you want to swing to where you don’t feel any pain or you don’t feel much pain. Then your swing starts changing.
“Then when you feel good so you can get back, there are just so many bad habits that have been incorporated. That’s the frustrating thing. You can feel so good in BP and the cage, and as soon as the game starts, the first pitch you see, it’s like, ‘[Expletive], what the hell are you doing?’”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 17: Xander Bogaerts #2 of the Boston Red Sox reacts in the sixth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on July 17, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Despite the fact that Bogaerts remains among the best short stops in the MLB in terms of hitting statistics, it’s dipped since that collision.
Speier noted Bogaerts hit .326/.388/.465 (batting, on-base percentage and slugging) before May 20, going along with four home runs in 38 games. In the 78 games after the collision, those same stats dipped to .282/.361/.429 with four home runs.