Above: Xander Bogaerts
By the Caribbean Journal staff
Aruba’s Xander Bogaerts made his Major League Baseball debut for the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night.
Bogaerts, a 20-year-old shortstop from Oranjestad, started at shortstop and batted seventh, going 0-3 with a strikeout.
Bogaerts is the first Aruban player in the Major Leagues since pitcher Sidney Ponson, who played for seven teams, last pitching in 2009 for the Kansas City Royals.
Bogaerts is the latest in a wave of young prospects from the Dutch Caribbean, although the vast majority have come from Curacao, including Jurickson Profar and Andrelton Simmons.
He is considered one of the top prospects in all of baseball.