BOSTON -- Xander Bogaerts thought he knew what it looked and felt like to swing the bat at his optimal level.

"It's hitting that ball the other way [to right field], man, the ability to see that ball that much longer," said the young Boston Red Sox shortstop. "Last year, I could basically go the other way whenever I wanted. This year, I'm thinking the other way and I can't do it."

And until the past few days, it had been gnawing at him so much that it was affecting his performance.

Last season, Bogaerts notched 196 hits, second in the American League behind Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve. Of those, 59 went to right field, 101 went up the middle or to center field, and only 36 were pulled to left field. It was reminiscent of Bogaerts' idol, longtime New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who made a Hall of Fame-worthy career out of serving base hits the opposite way to right field.

But Bogaerts noticed early this season that he was being pitched differently. Rather than keeping the ball away from him on the outer fringes of the strike zone -- a location that was conducive to being an opposite-field hitter -- pitchers were pounding him inside. And for a while, it didn't matter. Bogaerts was content to hit the ball all over the field. Through the end of July, he was batting .329 with a .385 on-base percentage and 140 hits, once again second in the majors behind Altuve. All of his career-high 14 home runs had been pulled to left field.

It wasn't until a few weeks ago, when the hits began to dry up, that Bogaerts' opposite-field obsession cropped up again. In search of what felt most comfortable at the plate, he was chasing pitches (mostly sliders) away and getting tied up on anything inside. From Aug. 1 through Aug. 25, he was 17-for-88 (.193) with one homer and 20 strikeouts, his worst stretch since he appeared utterly lost during a miserable slump in the second half of 2014, his first full season in the big leagues.

"I had a conversation with him," said Red Sox hitting coach Chili Davis. "Numbers, you can't do anything about. You can just make sure that the process is done correctly and then the numbers will take care of themselves."

Davis had a few words about Bogaerts' process, too.

"Understand where you're being pitched and swing where the strikes are," Davis said. "Maybe the way he's being pitched is not allowing him to go that way [to right field]. Maybe they're not pitching him to go that way. I think there are more strikes middle-in and more [pitches to] chase away. I don't want to go after chase. You go where the strikes are."

Clearly, Bogaerts listened. In Friday night's series opener against the Kansas City Royals, he picked up three hits, none of which went to right field. And in the first inning Saturday night, he saw a 97 mph fastball, middle-in, from Royals starter Danny Duffy and launched it onto the roof of a parking garage on Lansdowne Street, beyond Fenway Park's Green Monster in left field.

So maybe pulling the ball isn't so bad, after all.

"I'm getting hits differently compared to all the other years," said Bogaerts, who has directed 63 of his 162 hits this season to left field, 73 up the middle or to center and only 26 to right. "Pitchers have adjusted to me, and I mean, it's my time to adjust back. I'm working on getting there."

Still, pulling the ball doesn't feel natural to Bogaerts, even when he's getting hits to left field that he would normally take the other way.

Two years ago, Bogaerts acknowledged that his body began to wear down in August and September. And there have been times this season when it's apparent he's tired. He has started 125 of the Red Sox's 129 games, playing all but 35 innings at shortstop.

"I'm not going to blame it on tiredness this year," Bogaerts said. "I just plain-out haven't been able to turn it around as quickly as I wanted to, and one of the main reasons was not being able to go the other way. Trust me, that's one of the toughest parts. That ability to let the ball get that much deeper to hit the ball the other way, I don't want to say I've lost it, but it's not been there when I want it to. I'm definitely working on that."

Davis was seeing positive signs even before the past two games. On Thursday at Tampa Bay, Bogaerts flicked a two-strike slider down the right-field line that fell within a few feet of staying fair. Davis noted that Bogaerts appeared "calmer at the plate." While Bogaerts had been timing his stride too early, he has gotten back to waiting until the pitcher begins his motion.

And it's not as though Bogaerts' cool second half has ruined his season. Entering an ESPN Sunday Night Baseball matchup with the Royals, Bogaerts is still batting .310 with 16 homers and a .366 on-base percentage.

"We all looked at how well he did last year and how well he was doing at the beginning of this year, hitting .350, and everything was set up to be the MVP and just have that top-notch year, win a batting title, all that," Davis said. "It would be nice if that happened. I don't think that's reasonable for people to expect that of him. I think the expectation should be that he can go out and compete at a [high] level every day. Trying to do what he did last year, it doesn't work that way in this game. Years are different, numbers are different. It's a learning process every year."

Especially for a player who has not yet turned 24.

"I'm trying to work on different things. I am really trying," Bogaerts said. "I know if I start playing better, we'll definitely get on a nice roll."