Former Red Sox Star Will Return To Lineup For Playoff-Clinching Game

Welcome back, Xander Bogaerts. The former Boston Red Sox star is set to return Monday to the San Diego Padres after spending almost a month on the injured list with a broken left foot.

Kevin Acee, the Padres beat writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune, was the first to report on Bogaerts’ impending return.

The two-time World Series champion couldn’t pick a better time to return to the lineup. With a win Monday, the Padres clinch a playoff spot as San Diego’s magic number is down to one.

Bogaerts was starting to get hot when he went down with the non-displaced fracture. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale noted the four-time All-Star was hitting .303 with an .835 OPS since June 19.

“(Bogaerts is) a tough guy,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said when the shortstop went down, according to MLB.com’s Patrick Donnelly. “It could always be worse, but it could always be better.”

“I [recently] mentioned him swinging the bat really well, and he was playing really, really good shortstop. [He’s] a catalyst on the club,” Shildt added.

It’s the second straight year Bogaerts, 32, landed on the injured list with a broken bone. He missed seven weeks last summer with a fractured left shoulder.

The five-time Silver Slugger Award winner is in the third year of his 11-year, $280 million contract with the San Diego Padres. He’s hitting .262 this season with 10 home runs, 49 RBIs and 20 stolen bases in 131 games.

Prior to bolting for the West Coast, Bogaerts spent 10 seasons in Boston, helping the Red Sox win World Series titles in 2013 and 2018.

In an interesting twist, former Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta will be on the mound Monday when the Padres go for their playoff-clinching win, according to MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell.