Spring training declarations are a difficult beast to tackle. Putting too much weight in March statistics would be misguided, as Jake Fox and his 10 Grapefruit League home runs in 2011 remind us. "Jake Who?" you ask? Precisely.
At the same time, this is the first extended look at the 30 MLB clubs, and in some cases managers are determining roster spots based on performance. So these games aren't entirely meaningless; they just have to be viewed through the proper lens.
Are Xander Bogaerts' struggles (.222 average) really cause for concern, or is he merely a slow starter the way David Ortiz has been throughout his career (.227 career spring training average)? For a player of Bogaerts' pedigree I'd advise stepping away from the ledge and waiting for real games before inciting panic. His on-base percentage is more encouraging (.333), and he's slugged a pair of home runs. A better start would have been welcomed after his roller-coaster 2014, but it's too early to say anything definitive about the 22-year-old at this point.
That said, there are some takeaways we can glean from what we've seen in Fort Myers so far.
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