Boston Red Sox: Five players primed to bounce back in 2018

4.)  Boston Red Sox: Xander Bogaerts 

Let’s cut right to the chase here: everything was down for Xander Bogaerts in 2017.

His power disappeared this past season, as he only hit 10 home runs compared to his 21 in 2016. He only gathered up 62 RBI this past season while getting 89 in 2016. His batting average also dropped from .294 in 2016 to .273 in 2017.

He only batted .059 in the postseason.

With last season being his fourth full season, a lot more progress should have been made. He’s been all over the place in his previous seasons. It was unknown as to whether or not he was a power bat, a contact hitter, or both.

This season didn’t help decipher that question.

Among all qualified American League shortstops, Bogaerts ranked eleventh in home runs and seventh for RBI and batting average.

His potential was high after 2016, as he was mentioned in the same breath as other elite shortstops such as Francisco Lindor and Corey Seager.

2018 will be a telling one for Bogaerts and his future with the Boston Red Sox. He’ll be a free agent in 2020 and this season will begin to give the Red Sox the confirmation of whether or not they should give him his big payday that he’ll likely be asking for in the future.