Do We Have the Next Derek Jeter in Xander Bogaerts?

For some reason, there is just something sexy about baseball’s shortstop. Growing up, our favorite players play shortstop (Derek Jeter, Nomar Garciparra, Jimmy Rollins just to name a few household names). As children, we would take on their personas, yelling out “I call Nomah!” while playing whiffle ball in the back yard.

Their on field production supported why every kid wanted to become them. Derek Jeter is the greatest to ever play the position. Not only did he play superb defense, winning five gold glove awards throughout his career, Jeter also hit his way to 3,000 hits, a .310 lifetime batting average and an average of 15 home runs and 70 RBI per year. Jeter also averaged 113 runs as well as 32 doubles.

As the greatest shortstop to date has retired, as well as some of the other greatest shortstops to ever man the position, the field currently lacks a suitor to fill the void. Candidates include Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor and Addison Russell, names that have potential but ultimately have not yet produced at the elite level. To call them the next Derek Jeter would be premature.

There is one player that I failed to mention that interests me that many people overlook as well, our very own Xander Bogaerts.

Bogaerts gets overlooked because of his 2014 season where he switched between third base and shortstop and hit a to a lousy .240 batting average with 12 homers, a low 46 RBI and only 60 runs. But Bogaerts bounced back in 2015. He hit to a .320 average, good for second in the AL and fifth in the league, with 81 RBI and 84 runs, albeit only seven homers.

Bogaerts has maintained his production this year. He currently bats .346, first in the American League, ahead of our very own Jackie Bradley Jr (.342). He leads the league with 63 hits and is on pace for 231 hits as well as 123 runs, 15 homers, 96 RBI, and 23 stolen bases.

Bogaerts will probably not maintain those numbers—which would put him in the running for Most Valuable Player—but he could produce something just a tad below those numbers. Say Bogaerts produces at a 10-85-15 clip with a .320 batting average with 110 runs. A realistic possibility, those numbers come close to Derek Jeter’s stat line.

Is Xander Bogaerts the next Derek Jeter? His production and top prospect status, a former second overall prospect in baseball, makes me ponder the thought.

Bogaerts is two inches shorter than Jeter (6’1” to Jeter’s 6’3”) while maintaining a similar build. The two have a very similar batting stance as well. Look at the two.

Nearly identical.

Bogaerts has turned into an elite baseball player with the stats and the stance to back up the claim that he could become the next Derek Jeter. At 23 years old, Bogaerts is still hitting his prime. Will Bogaerts name one day be in the same sentence as the greats? Only time will tell.