Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts had a remarkable 2018 season slashing .288/23/103 and that closely matches John Valentin‘s 1995 slash of .298/27/102. However, in the metrics battle, Valentin had an 8.2 fWAR and Bogaerts a 4.9 fWAR.
Valentin finished ninth in MVP voting that season and Bogaerts finished 13th in the MVP race in 2018 for his solid season. The big difference is age as the right-handed hitting Valentin was 28-years-old after arriving in Boston as a 25-year-old. Bogaerts is now 26-years-old and is considered a veteran.
Valentine was a fifth-round draft selection for the Red Sox (1988) from Seton Hall and worked his way through the system as a shortstop, finally arriving in 1992 for 58 games.