FORT MYERS, Fla. -- It was early on Friday morning, and Xander Bogaerts was back at his brief home of third base.
The latest chapter at third is a temp job. Bogaerts will play there for the Netherlands in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Red Sox infield instructor Brian Butterfield helped him get ready for the assignment by drilling him grounders.
"First day, it kind of felt normal for me, to be honest," said Bogaerts. "I've been taking grounders at short, so it's been helping me a little bit also. It's just the speed of the ball hit. I'm happy that I played at least a little bit the early part of my career, so I'm a bit more comfortable with it."
On Tuesday, Bogaerts will make the lengthy flight to Korea to join his Netherlands teammates. He got the day off from game action on Friday, but he will play shortstop until his departure to Korea.
For Bogaerts, the hot corner brings back both good and bad memories. The good was winning the World Series at that position after being a late-season callup. The bad was in 2014, when he was moved off shortstop in the middle of the season when the Red Sox brought back Stephen Drew.
At 24 years old, Bogaerts is now entrenched at shortstop, where he started for the American League in the All-Star Game last year.
He is looking forward to moving to third to accommodate World Baseball Classic teammates Andrelton Simmons and Didi Gregorius.
"Yeah, for a short time it's good just to go out there and help the team," Bogaerts said. "As I say, I'm looking forward to it and hopefully we can make a good run at it."