Champagne was flying in the Padres’ clubhouse at Petco Park after Wednesday night’s 4-1 victory over the Cubs, a win that completed San Diego’s National League Wild Card Series sweep. Xander Bogaerts did not need to be in the middle of the spray to enjoy it. The veteran shortstop stood near the edge of the celebration, taking in what the club had earned.
For a player in his 14th major league season, with two World Series rings already in the drawer, the moment was not routine. Bogaerts understood the work behind it, and he had supplied a meaningful share of it. He went 4-for-8 in the two-game series, drove a home run onto the Western Metal Building in left field during Tuesday’s Game 1 blowout, then put San Diego on the board for good with a second-inning RBI single in Game 2.
“It was about as good a series as I could have hoped for,” Bogaerts said. “I helped on both days and did my part in winning games. When you can contribute in a good way, that means a lot.”
Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Gavin Sheets delivered some of the louder moments of the series, but Bogaerts gave the Padres a steady October hand. He was unhappy with his throwing error behind starter Michael King in the opener, even though it did not alter the outcome. That reaction, as much as the hits, spoke to a player who has spent enough time in postseason clubhouses to know that a short series can turn on one loose inning.
A familiar player in an unfamiliar kind of pressure
Padres manager Craig Stammen said postseason baseball creates its own atmosphere: sharper focus, more adrenaline and generally better opposing pitching. In that setting, he said, Bogaerts looked comfortable rather than overwhelmed. The shortstop has been handling those games since he was 20, when he was pulled into Boston’s 2013 pennant push and helped the Red Sox win the franchise’s eighth championship.
He returned to the mountaintop with Boston in 2018, when the 108-win Red Sox beat the Dodgers in five games in the World Series. Across eight postseason seasons, Bogaerts has played 56 October games, the most on the current Padres roster and 20th among active players. Over 227 plate appearances, he has seven homers and 23 RBIs.
San Diego’s 11-year, $280 million commitment before the 2023 season was built in part on that background. Bogaerts has posted a .781 OPS in 46 postseason plate appearances as a Padre, and general manager A.J. Preller believes the club’s experienced core showed its value against Chicago.
“Xander has won two world titles, so these situations are not new to him,” Preller said. He grouped Bogaerts with Machado, Tatis and Jake Cronenworth as players who have built up playoff experience, adding that the Padres will need that poise if they intend to continue moving through October.
That experience has also made Bogaerts a useful voice for younger teammates facing their first playoff crowd and first late-game pressure. He remembers being in that position himself. The noise, the stakes and the attention can make the moment feel oversized, he said, but the task becomes clearer once a player settles into it.
“I understand what those younger guys are dealing with,” Bogaerts said. “For some of them, it is their first time with this kind of crowd and these kinds of spots. It can feel big. I have been there, and all those years in the postseason can help.”
Late-season turnaround arrives in October
Bogaerts turned 34 on Thursday, and his Padres tenure has not escaped scrutiny. His defense at shortstop has been solid, but his offensive production has not consistently resembled the impact bat he was for a decade in Boston. The criticism grew louder during a difficult summer, when he moved from the middle of San Diego’s lineup as far down as the eighth spot.
Through 132 games entering September, Bogaerts carried a .217/.316/.322 line. Then the at-bats began to change. He finished the regular season with a .915 OPS over his final 21 games, pointing to a productive Colorado series in the middle of the month as a point when his offense began to come together.
Now the Padres are headed to Milwaukee for the National League Division Series, with Game 1 set for Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET, 7:30 p.m. CT and 5:30 p.m. PT. Bogaerts arrives there with the kind of recent form and October memory San Diego hoped it was buying.
He knows postseason tension does not disappear, even for a player with rings. The crowds can be relentless at home or on the road, he said. But after years of learning the rhythms of October, Bogaerts has found the simplest answer: control the moment, and the game begins to slow down enough to play it.
