Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who homered again Sunday at Kansas City to give him four home runs along with a .359 (23 for 64) batting average in 16 games since returning from an eight-day absence for a concussion in late August, thinks that break may have contributed to this surge, according to the Boston Herald.
"When I went down for a few days helped me out a lot," he said. "So, I feel good."
Bogaerts suggested he also benefited from the All-Star break, and the numbers back it up. In the 11 games immediately after the break, he hit .317 (13 for 41) with two home runs compared to .103 (11 for 107) with one home run in the 29 games immediately before it.
Manager John Farrell chooses to focus on the mechanical difference he sees from Bogaerts when the rookie is, in his own mind, well rested.
"Since coming back from the concussion he's been more balanced, and what it's allowed him to do is see the ball a little more clearly," said Farrell. "He's not lunging as violently to his front side and he's staying behind some swings. He's been able to carry it now for quite a while."