Xander Bogaerts has dealt with some growing pains early this season, but the Boston Red Sox aren't worried about their young infielder.

Specifically, Bogaerts has had some issues making plays at shortstop. He is trying to fill the shoes of Jose Iglesias, a defensive wizard, and Stephen Drew, who was terrific during the team's run to the World Series last fall.

"It looks glaring in contrast to the way we played last year," assistant general manager Mike Hazen said. "Looking at it through that lens is tough, especially when you remember last October we were playing so well every single game defensively. We're starting over again with young guys in the infield. When you're learning at this level, you're going to deal with some inconsistency.

"We knew that. The coaching staff knew that. You've got to grind through that a little bit. That's repetition in some cases. That's experience in some cases. That's learning the league in some cases. That's learning the field in some cases. But we feel like, in the end, the talent is good, the work ethic is good, the makeup is so good, he's going to figure those things out too."

Bogaerts, 21, is off to a better start offensively, hitting .287/.392/.391.

"Every player has their strengths, every player has things they need to work on a little more," Hazen said. "There's that sliding scale. Bogie has some things he has to work on, being in the league for the first time. We also think there are so many strengths he brings to the table, he's going to bring those out too.

"I think he's made a lot of progress in a lot of areas. The consistency on the routine play has been excellent, I think, overall. But we all knew there were going to be challenges, growing pains with some of these things."