Amed Rosario the next Xander Bogaerts? Mets coach Gary DiSarcina sees the similarities

A Caribbean kid blessed with immense natural ability shot through the minor leagues, was widely considered one of the best prospects in all of baseball and held his own as a major-league shortstop, even if the net production underwhelmed relative to the big-time expectations.

Gary DiSarcina, the Mets infield and third-base coach, has seen this before. Amed Rosarios career and growth and potential bear strong resemblance to that of another onetime wunderkind whom DiSarcina worked with extensively, Bostons Xander Bogaerts.

And that might mean very good things for Rosarios continued development and the Mets reliance on him as their franchise shortstop.

Xander is a great comp for Amed, and one day Amed can become as well-rounded a baseball player like Xander is, DiSarcina said. Each player at the same age shared explosiveness and speed to the ball and speed on the basepaths, above-average first-step quickness to the ball and the important trait of being coachable, a thirst to improve at the shortstop position.

Each player shared power and speed in the batters box. They could hit a home run to the opposite field in one at-bat and beat out an infield hit with their tremendous speed the next.

Rosario and Bogaerts, whose defending World Series champion Red Sox will visit First Data Field on Monday, arent identical players. The Mets shortstop is thinner and faster, Bostons has more power. But they are similar enough in their backgrounds that its worth looking at.

DiSarcina is particularly qualified to compare the two. During eight years in various roles with Boston, he was a witness to Bogaerts development, and for the past year-plus as a Mets coach, he has watched Rosario. Early-20s Rosario reminds DiSarcina of early-20s Bogaerts.

Consider: Bogaerts made the majors in August 2013 at age 20. In his first full major-league season, at 21, he hit .240 with a .297 on-base percentage and a .362 slugging percentage.

Rosario made the majors in August 2017 at age 21. In his first full major-league season, at 22, he hit .256 with a .295 on-base percentage and .381 slugging percentage.

In his second full season, Bogaerts made the leap to above-average hitter (and Silver Slugger winner). In his third, he was a 23-year-old All-Star.

The Mets are betting on Rosario making similar strides.

Both players could change the outcome of a game in many ways power, speed, defensive ability, hitting for average but the one thing I consistently reminded them about was they needed to make the routine play in the field, DiSarcina said. To me, that is the most difficult thing for a shortstop to realize when they come up to the majors. Everything revolves around offense now. They are judged more by their offensive stats than anything else.

Everyone sees them make athletic and tremendous plays with great flair in the field. But for me, when I was around them, I always talked about the routine play.

Bogaerts eventually settled in defensively, particularly after the Red Sox stopped playing him at third, and DiSarcina praised the strides Rosario made in the field in 2018. DiSarcina who himself first tasted the majors as a 21-year-old shortstop for the 1989 Angels suggested these two tended to rush routine plays because of their minimal minor-league reps, a product of their prospect pedigree.

Rosario said young players mess up those plays because they put too much pressure on themselves. If hes not alone in that experience, all the better.

Its more the mental aspect of it. Theyre a little harder on themselves, Rosario said through an interpreter. Im very happy that [DiSarcina is] comparing me to a player like Xander.

If nothing else, Bogaerts trajectory is a reminder that growth isnt linear. Even the most hyped of prospects can seemingly fail before becoming good players.

Bogaerts, still only 26, had his best season yet last year, slashing .288/.360/.522 and getting down-ballot MVP votes. His 4.9 WAR, according to FanGraphs, ranked sixth-highest among qualified shortstops.

That sort of production is close to a best-case scenario for Rosario (1.5 WAR).

They both have great energy, durability, and will do what you ask of them during a game, DiSarcina said. Amed can reach the levels that Xander has reached.