Xander Bogaerts plays his part in Red Sox victory against the New York Yankees

BOSTON —The Red Sox have played 25 games since Xander Bogaerts was promoted from Triple A Pawtucket Aug. 19. Sunday night’s 9-2 victory over the Yankees was only the ninth he has started. While it may seem unusual for a team to promote a 20-year-old prospect to have a role off the bench, it served two purposes. The addition of Bogaerts to the roster immediately made the Red Sox a better team and it furthers his development in preparation for a bigger role next season. 

“It has been a great experience for me,” Bogaerts said. “The opportunity to be around this team means a lot to me. I’m learning things every day.”

Derek Jeter took a momentary pause Sunday night after asking a reporter how old Xander Bogaerts is. "Twenty-years old?" Jeter, 39, said with a smile. "I don't remember when I was 20-years old. I thought he played well. He's swinging the bat pretty good, he's playing great defense. Is he mainly a shortstop?" Another great question. Jeter and Bogaerts are both listed at 6-foot-3, and Bogaerts has faced questions already about just what his long-term position is: shortstop, or is he too tall? The Red Sox fully believe in Bogaerts at shortstop, although that doesn't mean down the road he couldn't switch positions. The rookie looked great at third base again on Sunday, starting for Will Middlebrooks, who has the flu. "There's questions because he's tall?" Jeter said. "Well, if he was short, they'd say there's questions because he's short. There's always questions. But he's been pretty impressive from what I saw. I didn't see him a lot." Jeter heard those height questions himself. "Sometimes," he recalled. "You know, they'd say because we were a little bit taller — and then there was a wave of guys who came up who were pretty tall. He seems like he has a bright future." Jeter's sample size of Bogaerts has indeed been small, but the Yankees captain was a witness to the shot. Jeter was on the field when Bogaerts hit his first major-league home run on Sept. 7, a 443-foot bomb over the left-center field bullpen at Yankee Stadium. It registered as the second-longest homer in the Bronx this season, according to ESPN — falling short of Francisco Cervelli's leading homer by one foot. "First home run, which is something you always remember, to hit over at Yankee Stadium," Jeter said, "I'm sure it's kind of special for him."