NL DIVISION SERIES: PADRES VS DODGERS

October 6, 2024

Xander Bogaerts

Dodger Stadium

San Diego Padres

Pregame 2 Press Conference

Q. Obviously you've done a lot of winning in the postseason with the Red Sox. Losing yesterday, this has been a Padres team that's bounced back nicely, all second half. To you, what are the keys to bouncing back after last night?

XANDER BOGAERTS: Just doing what we've been doing the whole year -- turn the page. Playoff time, you can get some really heartbreaking losses. It's part of the game.

It's really good teams competing in big environments, big situations. Those guys, they bounced back. We put runs on them early, they came back and we scored again. Just couldn't get the final hit towards the end to kind of bounce back.

But I feel like we've been doing it the whole year where right now it's just a part of our identity, just bouncing back and being able to overcome that.

Q. You scored some runs early, then the final six innings, quieter, couldn't cash in the late opportunities in the eighth and ninth. How did you feel about the final six innings offensively against their bullpen?

XANDER BOGAERTS: We know one of our biggest strengths is our bullpen. Not every night those guys are going to be putting up zeroes like they do for the most part of the year. I'll take those guys in our bullpen any day over everyone.

Sometimes you've got to understand it's not going to go their way every time. It's a tough situation for it to not go our way in the postseason, Game 1. But those guys have done a tremendous job, whenever we put some runs on the board they keep it quiet, kind of shut down the bats from the other team.

But yesterday was their bullpen. They did a good job keeping us off the bases.

Q. Yesterday Jackson had a couple of really good plate appearances in front of you, one of them before your two-run double. Just seeing him his first postseason experience, what's that been like for you?

XANDER BOGAERTS: That one against Kopech, just fouling it off. That kid definitely doesn't look like he's 21, I could tell you that -- the way he plays, the way he carries himself.

Definitely a lot of credit to himself, his family for the upbringing and just showing him the way.

This kid is really special and I think he has a chance to do a lot of special things. He's already done a lot, but looks like he has a really bright future ahead of him and hopefully I'm there for all of it.

Q. Given all your experience in playoffs, World Series, all the performances you've seen at the highest level and the biggest situations, how do you put in context what Ohtani is doing right now?

XANDER BOGAERTS: He's one of the best players in the game. He's had a phenomenal season this year, first year with the Dodgers, first postseason game.

That homer, tough pitch, too. It wasn't like it was a pitch down the middle. Seems like he's seeing everything like a balloon right now. He's been seeing it like that the whole year.

Hopefully we can keep him quiet for tonight and the rest of the series.

Q. When compared to last year, this offense is a lot better at situational hitting and coming through in high-leverage situations. I know maybe a lot has to do with Luis Arraez and Jurickson Profar and Jackson Merrill being in it, but how much is it the guys coming back from last year just buying into an unselfish approach offensively? And how did that process take place?

XANDER BOGAERTS: I mean, yeah, I think bringing in Luis definitely helped a lot. He starts it for us. I saw Profar said, wherever he goes we go. We kind of follow him. He's been putting up good at-bats.

It's very contagious. Not trying to get too homer happy. Just trying to take your base hits, single the pitchers to death. Get runners on base. And then, boom, a two-run homer for Manny yesterday.

Look for that big punch after you put some guys in motion, put guys on base, get some walks.

I know guys might not be swinging it the way they want to this postseason, but they're taking their walks. Walks aren't hits, but they're getting guys on base and they're getting on base. So credit to those guys. And the offense we have, we know we're going to come through.

Q. The way you described Ohtani reminded me kind of how you described Ortiz on his run in 2013 playoffs?

XANDER BOGAERTS: No. No. No, that was different. I think he hit, what, .714 in the World Series, trying to get intentional walks and still getting hits. That was definitely the best thing I've ever seen being on a baseball field the series. And the magnitude of the series, World Series. There's nothing that I've seen close to that yet.

Q. From all the experience you have in the postseason, what have you kind of learned about the teams that have been able to thrive in it? What does it take to --

XANDER BOGAERTS: You've got to bounce back quick. As I said in the playoffs you get some really tough losses. Last night was one. We kind of were ahead twice in the game and trusting our bullpen, knowing how good they are. We kind of thought we might have it.

But that's baseball. Those guys have a really good team over there. I think the best part of our team is to be able to bounce back and flush out what happened yesterday and focus on today. Once you get in that hitters meeting, talk about our plan and how we're going to execute it against these guys.

Q. You won a World Series here with Mookie. Can you just take us back to your head space back then and the future you guys maybe you guys maybe thought you had in front of you as the Red Sox?

XANDER BOGAERTS: That's another special player there. Definitely played my years with him there, he was the best player. I've played with, for sure, still doing it in Dodger blue this time. So it's very nice to be able to see that he's continued it. We still talk and stuff like that.

But pretty special player. Pretty special person. We know we had a nice run together. There was a nice long stretch we had together as teammates. And really good winning teams making the playoffs pretty much.

If not every year we were at least in it for the race towards the end.

But definitely had some special times and playing here yesterday brought definitely some memories back of that World Series year.

Q. Do you ever talk, like, how did we ever end up here playing on the West Coast?

XANDER BOGAERTS: No. He went first. He got traded. I don't know if it's something he wanted or not, but I don't think he had a no-trade clause. They traded him. He had to go.

So he was the first one to leave and that really took a hit on our team, our organization -- taking our best player, trading him to another team, that was really tough.

Since then, pretty much for his whole career, he's been the best or one of the best players in the game. So credit to him and all his hard work and what a guy that he is. He's special for sure.

Q. You have been watching Ha-Seong Kim playing shortstop all this season. What's your impression and how tough is it right now to be in the series without him?

XANDER BOGAERTS: It's tough. I was hurt this year and for the first time I've been out for a long time, and the feeling of showing up to a ballpark not being able to help in the way you want or the way that you know you can, I mean, it's tough to see from afar.

Joe had to go through it for some stretches this year. Darvish was out a little bit. Tati was out. This is my first year being out, so I know how tough it is.

And seeing the team have success, definitely happy for the team, but it still hurts you a little bit because you want to be out there and you feel like even if I'm out there the team will be even better than we are.

So I know the shoulder isn't an easy thing to go through. And hopefully he gets what he needs done. I don't know what the future holds for him, his contract situation, but he's definitely been an excellent teammate and a guy that makes my job easier being in the infield, tell you that for sure, because he catches pretty much every ball hit to him or close to him.

Q. Following up on all your postseason experience, there's never been more than two seasons that you've gone without playing in the playoffs. So how blessed do you feel to have been able to do that? Have you shared an experience winning a couple World Series with your teammates in San Diego who haven't won a World Series yet?

XANDER BOGAERTS: Definitely blessed. Listen, I always said I was in the World Series my first year. And the amount of pressure playing out of position -- I was at third base at that time -- it was really hard. And trying not to mess it up on the biggest stage was really hard.

After winning my first year, I kind of thought this was how it was supposed to be or how it was going to be. I think the next two years we were last place. So that was tough.

I tell them, like, appreciate getting this far isn't by luck or by accident, and appreciate it because you never know when you'll get an opportunity to be at this stage again.

Early on in the season, when I was hurt, watching the game from TV, I told these guys we have something really special.

And one of the things was ability to come back in games or after tough defeats we bounced back like nothing happened. Sometimes that can drag along, like, oh, man, we should have won that game. And it just drags on.

This team, we don't have none of that. And one of the best parts of this team, it's not one person that has to do it every night.

In 2013, David was the one that did a lot of it. We obviously had a lot of big hits from all the guys in that series -- Jonny Gomes, Victorino -- in the World Series, had some really big hits.

So this year I feel like we compared more to the 2018 Red Sox. Just it's a powerhouse. Offense, the pitching, the bullpen, it's just unbelievable what we have right now.

Q. I don't know if you knew that Jackson's triple in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series, he was the youngest guy to do it since yours in the World Series. Did you get any flashbacks watching him round the bases there?

XANDER BOGAERTS: I didn't know. But once he hit it, I was, like, I know I hit one when I was that young but I didn't know if I was the last one to do it.

But I definitely did get it. But I didn't know if that was the exact answer. But this guy, me at that age, I played in the World Series, but this guy was so much better than me at that age.

Once you're a (indiscernible) specialist, seeing him do it in a whole Major League season. I got called up. I had success in the minors and played a little in the big leagues. It was much different in my situation compared to him. Him being so consistent throughout the year -- I mean, this guy started off hitting at the bottom of the lineup.

You could probably say he can hit third or fourth in our lineup. Credit to the guy. That's just how good he is and how hard he's worked. He's earned that. I think, in the future, definitely that's probably one of the positions he's going to put himself at, to be a very special player. But definitely once he hit that, I thought about that. I just wasn't sure.