Bogaerts, for sure, is a little overlooked on a team that has two MVP candidates in Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez.

“We’re looking up at the TV,” Bogaerts said. “I had hit a home run. Brock had hit a home run, and all they’re showing are highlights of Mookie and J.D.”

BALTIMORE — Xander Bogaerts and Brock Holt were eating dinner in the visiting clubhouse at Camden Yards after the Red Sox’ 19-12 win over Baltimore Friday night.

“I mean, it is what it is,” Bogaerts said. “I don’t mind that. I’m used to that. They are two amazing players and I’m happy they’re on my team. They’re just amazing guys in general. Maybe they need to walk a little bit more and get people on base when I come up. They’re very humble.”


As is Mr. Bogaerts.

Bogaerts, now 25, had three more hits, including a double, a stolen base, and a pair of runs in Boston’s 5-0 win over the Orioles Saturday afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader. He went 0 for 4 in the nightcap, but is hitting .275 with 17 homers and 72 RBIs. That would be a good season for anyone.

Alex Cora has tried to get Bogaerts to believe that he is one of the best players in the game. He’s tried to get him to walk around with a little more swagger. But it’s simply not in Bogaerts’s DNA. He’s a humble, laid-back kid from Aruba, and just a nice person. But maybe he’s starting to come out of his shell and believe that he is that good.

“I’m just trying to get on base. I’m just trying to help out,” he said. ”What we have going on right now is something we all want to be a part of. There’s a special feeling in this clubhouse now. I’m just trying to play more freely. Sometimes we tend to overthink a little bit. You try to do a hundred different things when sometimes you just need to forget about those things and just see the baseball. We forget about that sometimes.


“Our lineup is unbelievable — 1 through 9. It doesn’t matter which lineup you throw out there. Guys have been productive and hopefully we continue that as a team.”

Bogaerts said he always believed he was a good player. He came up as a 20-year-old, so you have to be really good to do that. But he did go through some learning years.

He was switched to third base at one point and hated it. He always wanted to be a shortstop, but he wasn’t always the best shortstop. Now he’s one of the best.

The one thing Cora wanted to do when he got the manager’s job was make Bogaerts believe in himself.

“He’s a guy I wanted to push and get him back in the conversation of the best shortstops,” Cora said. “I don’t know if he’s in that conversation, but I know we have an elite shortstop, a guy who’s very athletic and very physical. He cares about winning. He has great instincts. He’s been outstanding. He shows up everyday and little by little he’s becoming a leader. He’s helped our third baseman a lot. He feels a lot more comfortable walking around here. You’re a good player. You’ve got talent. There’s nothing wrong walking around and showing it. He’s playing that way.”


Bogaerts appreciates Cora’s confidence in him.

“I always kind of believed that I was good or else I wouldn’t be in the big leagues,” he said. “But I’m blessed to have him as my manager. He’s always pushing me and helping me out in different areas, even offensively. That’s him, man. He wants you to walk around like you are the man.

“I think sometimes it’s good to do that, but I’m a little different. I’m a little bit more relaxed. Sometimes it shows up. When you hit a walkoff or a grand slam, you feel like you’re the man.”

But Bogaerts had to acknowledge he’s become a better defender.

“I’ve made some stupid errors,” he said, “but not as stupid as some I’ve made in the past. Every year, I make smarter decisions and that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m working with Raffy [Rafael Devers] on that, because I don’t want him to go through what I did. Trying to help him out. He’ll get there one day.”

Bogaerts had to go through growing pains on his own. People like Dustin Pedroia helped him out a lot, he said, but until things clicked in his own brain, he wasn’t going to get to the next level.

“I’ve made errors that I’ll probably never make again,” he said. “They were based on making the wrong decision and not being ready. Pedey always told me to see it happening before it happens and to remember to anticipate.”


Bogaerts highly praised Martinez, from whom he’s learned so much about hitting.

“J.D. has different plans for each pitcher,” Bogaerts explained. “He knows what he wants to do against a certain guy, what type of pitch he wants to look for. So I think he’s been a help for everyone, for me and the guy hitting after me.

“You know the Coca-Cola machine where you can get Coke, Sprite, whatever? You can go to him, put a dollar in, and he’ll give you any answer you want. That’s the way to describe him.”

Bogaerts never wants to believe he knows it all, and that he’s arrived as a player. He always wants to continue to perfect his game.

But Bogaerts has begun to accept what Cora has, on a daily basis, tried to convince him of — that he’s one of the best all-around shortstops in baseball. And now, Bogaerts is starting to believe it.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo.