Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts selected to 2019 All-MLB Team presented by Scotts
BOSTON, MA — Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox have been selected to the 2019 All-MLB Team presented by Scotts. Bogaerts was a first-team selection as the game’s top shortstop, while Betts was one of three outfielders selected to the second team. The All-MLB Team, in its inaugural season, recognizes and commemorates the top performances by players during the 2019 regular season and was selected in a vote by fans, media members, broadcasters, former players, and other officials throughout the game.
Bogaerts, 27, hit .309 (190-for-614) with 110 runs scored over 155 games in 2019 and set career highs in doubles (52), extra-base hits (85), RBI (117), home runs (33), walks (76), on-base percentage (.384), slugging percentage (.555), and OPS (.939). The 2019 American League Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award recipient and All-Star led AL shortstops in hits, doubles, extra-base hits, RBI, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS, tying Nomar Garciaparra (1997, 2002) for the most extra-base hits in a season by a Red Sox shortstop. Bogaerts joined Alex Rodriguez as the only shortstops in major league history with at least 30 home runs and 50 doubles in a season, and was the first major league shortstop to score at least 100 runs and record at least 100 RBI in consecutive seasons since Miguel Tejada (2000-04).
Betts, 27, led the majors with a career-high 135 runs scored, the most by a Red Sox player since Ted Williams’ franchise-record 150 in 1949. In 150 games, the right-handed batter hit .295 (176-for-597) with a .915 OPS, 40 doubles, five triples, 29 home runs, 80 RBI, and a career-high 97 walks. He ranked fourth in the AL in walks, fifth in on-base percentage (.391), and 11th in OPS. Selected to his fourth consecutive All-Star Game in 2019, Betts also received an American League Rawlings Gold Glove Award for right field and a Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award as an outfielder following the season. In 132 games (126 starts) in right field and 17 games (16 starts) in center field, Betts recorded 10 assists and was charged with only two errors in 2019. According to FanGraphs, he led AL outfielders with 15 defensive runs saved and ranked second with a 12.6 ultimate zone rating.