Xander Bogaerts could be the nicest guy in Boston.

It just so happens that he’s also one of the best pure hitters in baseball.

“He’s just genuinely a good dude,” said Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes.

Let’s count his chill attitude as one reason why Bogaerts didn’t make a big stink out of what happened on Wednesday, when he became the latest victim of Beanballgate, taking a pitch from Baltimore starter Kevin Gausman in the back. Granted, it was a curveball. It hardly looked intentional. Gausman was ejected regardless, and given the level of tension displayed between these two teams the past few weeks, it would have surprised nobody if Bogaerts took offense to the pitch.

Instead, he quickly scurried to first base.

“He’s a guy who keeps it light,” Barnes said. “He’s a fun guy to play with. He’s a guy who always has high spirits, always out there having fun and enjoying playing the game.”

Happiness is contagious

Aside from entering Friday with a .330 average — tied for fifth in the American League — while playing shortstop at an above-average level, Bogaerts means more than numbers to the Red Sox. He’s quietly becoming their super glue.

As new players come up and down from the minors, in and out of the locker room via trade or free agency, Bogaerts is there. He’s a friend to all, speaking four languages (English, Spanish, Dutch, Papiamento) and adding unbridled enthusiasm to any situation.

“Every guy on that team that (in 2014) tried to help me out,” Bogaerts said of his most difficult season in the majors.

He’s tried to return the favor.

“It’s not easy coming up to the big leagues,” the 24-year-old said. “Especially at a young age, you’re trying to impress right away. But sometimes it’s not going to be that way. The big leagues is the hardest level that there is. It’s not going to be easy all the time.

“For me it’s pretty easy being able to communicate with guys who come up from the minors, who speak any language. It’s easy to have a conversation with them.”

The conversing doesn’t just take place in the locker room.

When Bogaerts was first establishing himself as an everyday player in 2014, it was rare to see him stop the game for one of his pitchers the way he does so frequently now. The shortstop is often the captain of the infield, but when the shortstop is 21, who is going to listen to him?

These days, it seems like every game, Bogaerts is walking to the pitcher’s mound at just the right time, putting his arm around their back and whispering some encouragement. Those few seconds can provide much-needed calmness during rocky times.

“He lets you relax while staying focused and staying competitive,” Barnes said.

Said Bogaerts, “I think I did it a lot in the minors, but not much in the big leagues when I came up. I would let Pedey (Dustin Pedroia) do that a little more. But I always like talking to the pitcher and as time went on, I got more service time in the big leagues, so I felt like I could do that more often with pitchers.”

No weaknesses

Bogaerts is the youngest Red Sox player ever to win a Silver Slugger, having captured it in each of the last two years. He’s started at shortstop in the All-Star Game, and he’s got more two-strike hits than anybody in baseball since the start of the 2015 season.

For opposing pitchers, Bogaerts is a nightmare to face, and it’s not because he has a grizzly, tobacco-spitting look of intimidation in the box. It’s his finesse that can be utterly annoying.

Rays pitching coach Jim Hickey used to say that the Rays knew how to pitch Bogaerts, just like they’d pitch most young hitters, with down-and-away breaking balls. During his three-month slump of 2014, it worked like a charm.

But once Bogaerts figured out how to protect the outside of the plate, it didn’t matter what teams did to him.

“He’s going to be, if he’s not already, like a lot of the really good players,” Hickey predicted in 2015, when Bogaerts started to get hot. “Let’s just say he’s like Pedroia, who has been consistent and productive. There is no one way to pitch him. He kills pitches that are middle-in, yes, but he still does damage on pitches middle-away. And you can’t live down and away, breaking ball, breaking ball, breaking ball. You have to change spots, change speeds, change tactics.

“And that’s probably what we’ll have to do to him for the next 10 years, unfortunately.”

Hickey was spot on. Pedroia ranks seventh all-time with a .252 average with two strikes, the best two-strike hitter the Red Sox have seen since Wade Boggs — whose .262 is second only to Tony Gwynn’s likely unbreakable .302.

Since the start of 2015, Boagerts is hitting .241 with 184 two-strike hits, most in the big leagues.

“It’s crazy,” Barnes said. “It’s almost like he prefers hitting with two strikes. He’s got this approach of trying to drive the ball early and trying to put the ball in play late. He’s got a knack for the big knock, not trying to do too much but understanding the situation of the game and what the team needs at that moment, trying to do that and not do too much.”

What’s Bogaerts’ secret?

“I mean, I would never say it,” he said. “You just have to go up there and trust yourself and trust your abilities. It’s not easy. Nobody wants to have two strikes. But sometimes it helps you out. Pitchers make mistakes. You have to try not to miss it once they do.”

Power coming later

During the 2015 season, Bogaerts called himself a singles hitter. He doesn’t feel much different today, with 26 of his 29 hits going for singles.

“When the weather heats up is when I pretty much go,” he said. “It’s kind of tough for me to hit. I don’t even have this weather at home (in Aruba). So for me, I always said it’s been tough for me to hit in the beginning. Once the weather starts heating up, my body feels so much looser. In the cold, sometimes I’m hitting up there and I feel pretty stiff. Just trying to make contact because I know I don’t have the power at that time.”

Some might think that approach has sapped his power, but Bogaerts exploded for 20 homers last year.

“I thought last year there was a point, probably about mid-May or June on, where he started to turn on the ball a little bit more,” said manager John Farrell. “Because early in the season he was pitched pretty much away all the time.

“He was hitting at about a .350 clip when we were in Minnesota last year and then there were some pitching plans changed where he was pitched predominantly inside and he was able to adjust, and that’s where you saw the pull power start to emerge. It’s in there. But I like the fact he’s not looking to do that exclusively. He’s using the whole field and that’s when he’s at his best.”

Bogaerts was hesitant when asked if he’s happy with what he’s done early in his career.

“I guess I am,” he said. “There’s always room to be better. But I guess I am. I’m very blessed. It’s an honor to be here playing every day with the Red Sox and you can never take that for granted.”

In his mind, what does the perfect Xander Bogaerts look like?

“I don’t know, man,” he said. “That’s a good question. I haven’t thought about that yet. I’m still 24 so I have a lot more in front of me. Hopefully stay in the big leagues for a long time. That’s one of my goals, to play in the big leagues for a long time and stay healthy. And try to win as much as possible, to be up there with the best in most wins.

“A batting title is always nice,” he said of his career goals. “I came second (in 2015). It’s not the easiest thing to do. Close to 3,000 hits would not be bad. That would mean I had a pretty good career.”

***

It’s his fourth year in the United States, but it still hasn’t clicked for Rusney Castillo, the $72 million outfielder signed from Cuba in 2014.

Castillo entered Friday with a .282 average and .745 OPS for the PawSox, tops among regulars, but those numbers don’t exactly jump off the page for a 29-year-old in Triple A.

Pawtucket was once a fountain of youth that the Red Sox could always turn to for help, today there isn’t a ton there beyond a couple extra outfielders in Castillo and Steve Selsky, first base prospect Sam Travis (.235 average, .630 OPS) and catcher Blake Swihart (.208, .625). Both Travis and Swihart have dealt with injuries.

Once a premier shortstop prospect, Deven Marrero ranks dead last in the International League with a .389 OPS, but was recalled on Friday.

In Double A, the future is brighter. Aneury Tavarez leads the Eastern League with a .377 average and third base prospect Rafael Devers is hitting .333 with five doubles and five homers through 20 games. The Red Sox haven’t been afraid to call players up from Portland — Yoan Moncada and Andrew Benintendi both made the jump last year — but aren’t yet thinking about Devers despite their troubles at third base.

“We’ll wait and see with Pablo (Sandoval), when he’ll be coming back. We’ll get Brock (Holt) back here,” said president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. “Devers has done great. He’s in Double A at 20 years old right now. We’re happy where he is right now. We like him a lot. He’s having a great season, but we’re not ready to jump outside the organization.”

Left-hander Jason Groome, the club’s first-round pick last year, hasn’t pitched since straining his lat in his first start of the season for Low-A Greenville. He allowed nine runs in 11⁄3 innings.