Padres' Xander Bogaerts Opens Up on Unlucky Season, Hopefully Finally Breaking Through

San Diego Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts appears to have turned things around at the plate after a rocky first half of the season, ending a division rivalry series against the Los Angeles Dodgers with five straight hits, including two big moments.

Bogaerts thought himself to be the hero on Wednesday night, driving a ball into the left-center field gap to level the game at three in the ninth inning. However, the Dodgers stole his moment as a Will Smith walk-off homer gave them the win in the bottom of the inning.

Rather than clinging onto the previous night's shortcomings, Bogaerts delivered in a big way in Thursday's 5-3 win, going a perfect 4-for-4 with a double, a homer and three runs scored.

The eight total bases he recorded in the final game of a four-game series against the division rivals were the most he had in a single game all year.

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"I’m never big on ‘unlucky,’” Bogaerts said. “Throughout my whole career, I’ve been very fortunate. It’s gone my way. But this is definitely the year where it’s been very weird. Unlike me, kind of. It doesn’t matter where I hit it, it’s right at someone. It’s very weird, very frustrating.

“But they say it turns around, and whenever they come, they come in bunches. So I’m looking forward to that streak.”

While Bogaerts may not be big on 'unlucky', statistics show the 32-year-old hasn't had the best fortune at the plate this year. His expected batting average is .265 compared to his .239 true batting average, meaning the quality of his contact historically results in better results than he has been getting this season.

Bogaerts is having a down year with four homers and 28 runs batted in this year while slashing .239/.314/.340. Prior to last night, his OPS was .617 and he had an OPS+ of 74, which is well below league average. Thursday's explosion brought his numbers up fairly significantly, but his numbers still are not what the Padres would expect from their $280 million star.

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The shortstop will look to stay hot as the Padres go straight into a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals, who have scored the second-fewest runs in MLB this season. First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. PT.

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