"Not like when Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado gets hot" - Padres insider critical of Xander Bogaerts best 2024 performances, calls for better 2025
Before the San Diego Padres added star rookie Jackson Merrill and received major aid from Ha-seong Kim in the batting department, their offense mostly relied on the shoulders of three players — Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts. While Tatis and Machado were able to make the best out of the 2024 season, Bogaerts' stock rapidly declined.
On Tuesday's episode of the "Ben and Woods" podcast, co-hosts Ben Higgins and Steve Woods, along with Paul Reindl, discussed Padres general manager A.J. Preller's postseason presser. Preller talked about the team's plans for 2025 and highlighted Bogaerts' importance. Higgins added that while Machado and Tatis were able to hold their end of the bargain, Bogaerts hasn't shown the same form he had on the East Coast.
"I was looking at the highest paid athletes in all of professional sports, NBA, NFL and baseball, three of the top 20 are San Diego Padres in terms of largest contract deals of all time," Higgins said (3:03:08). "You need all three of those guys to perform, Manny was Manny eventually this year after he got healthy, Tatis seems like he is gonna be Tatis, can Bogaerts be even like somewhat close to the Xander Bogaerts he was in Boston."
Higgins and Reindl then pointed out that there have been flashes of brilliance from Bogaerts in his two seasons with the club. However, Woods said that even those haven't been as good as what the other two have had.
"Even the flashes aren't the flashiest of flashes," Woods said. "It is not like when Tatis gets hot or when Manny gets hot."
AJ Preller partly blames Xander Bogaerts' injury for lack of form
When Preller was asked why Bogaerts' batting statistics weren't up to his standards, he claimed that the shortstop's shoulder injury which prevented him from taking part in at least 51 games this season, affected him when he was on the field.
"Part of it [lack of form] was the injury, but I think he’s going to look at this year and make some adjustments to make sure that he comes back next year and he’s back as one of the top players in the game,” Preller said.
Bogaerts' contact-hitting prowess saw him hit .292 in 10 seasons in Boston which earned him four All-Star caps. He managed a .285 in 2023, but that form went further down this year as he only hit .264 and recorded just 44 RBIs.