Dombrowski doesn't want Bogaerts thinking about home runs

After watching Xander Bogaerts earn his first career Silver Slugger award in 2015, Boston Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski doesn't want the 23-year-old to change his approach at the plate, even though he didn't hit for much power.

"I don't want Xander Bogaerts to start thinking about hitting home runs," Dombrowski told Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. "He's a really good hitter and he will continue to be a really good hitter, and you don’t want him to develop habits where he's looking to pull the ball and hit home runs all the time."

Though scouts raved for years about Bogaerts' power, the young shortstop thrived in 2015 by favoring contact and driving the ball to the opposite field. He only smacked seven homers in 156 games last summer, but he also hit .320 with a .776 OPS (108 OPS+), while trimming his strikeout rate by nearly eight percent and hitting the ball the other way more often than all but 10 qualified hitters.

Bogaerts' refined approach produced way more ground balls in 2015, another factor that suppressed his home-run output, but Dombrowski is confident the Aruba native will realize his power potential organically at some point down the road.

"I think he will have plenty of power, particularly from the position he plays," Dombrowski said. "I think it's more important he's driving the ball and driving in runs, a la what I've talked about with Hanley Ramirez. I think his power will just naturally improve. He'll drive the ball a long ways, he's a big individual, he'll continue to get stronger as he ages and I think he'll hit more home runs. I don't really want to put a focus on that. I really want him to continue to be a quality hitter."