A Profile on Rafael Devers: How did we get here?
Rafael Devers was the first player in the MLB to get his 100th RBI on the year. He’s only 22.
As of writing, Devers has 27 homers to go along with 101 RBIs and a .332 batting average. He also supports a slash line of .332/.380/.596 with a league leading 48 doubles. He leads the league in hits, total bases, and extra base hits. He’s been great.
How did this all happen?
Devers was signed on August 9th, 2013 as a 16-year old International free agent. He went on to play in the minors until the 2017 season, where he got called up the middle of summer. His first hit was a home run in Seattle, but he really made a name for himself in an August game against the Yankees.
The game was in Yankee Stadium. The Sox were down 2-1 in the top of the 9th. One out and nobody on. Aroldis Chapman on the mound. He hadn’t given up a home run all seasons, and hadn’t given up one to a lefty in SIX YEARS. Devers got a 103 mph fastball and crushed it into the opposite field bullpen. Boston ended up winning the game 3-2 in the 10th. Devers, only 20 at the time, shocked just about everyone.
Building off of this moment, Devers rode into the 2017 ALCS vs the Astros and had a very successful series, batting .364 with 2 HRs and 4 RBIs. Even though the Sox got eliminated, Devers still showed enough for fans to be excited for years to come.
In 2018, Devers took what seemed to be a step back. He batted a mere .240 with a subpar .731 OPS. He also showed his struggles in the field, finishing second in the league with 24 errors. Fans began to lose hope in what they saw of him in the late 2017 season. He was splitting time between Eduardo Núñez and Brock Holt. Then, he showed up when it mattered most – in the 2018 playoffs.
He batted .385 with 6 RBIs in the ALCS against the Astros. He then had a go-ahead hit in the top of the 9th in Game 4 of the World Series. Devers proved himself to be clutch.
He clearly carried the momentum he gained in the playoff run into 2019, vaulting himself into the AL MVP conversation after having a disappointing 2018. He already has 6 more home runs, 35 more RBIs, 22 more doubles, and is batting almost 100 points higher than his 2018 campaign. He’s done all of this through 123 games, only 2 more than last year. He even has 6 less errors.
Now let’s get goofy. At 22, Mike Trout hit .323/.432/.557 with 27 HRs and 97 RBIs. No sane person would argue that Devers is or will ever be a better player than Trout, but the numbers are at least comparable. Is it possible that Devers goes down a similar path that Trout has? To a certain extent, yes.
He could become a comparable hitter to Trout, and we’ve seen the evidence of that this year. However, Trout will always be a much better defender and athlete on the bases. There’s more to the game than just hitting. The Trout comparison is more to remind readers that Devers has put up tremendous offensive statistics this year.
It’s gotten to a point where it’s not even all that surprising when Devers goes 6/6 with 4 doubles.
It seems as though multiple times a week he has a 4 hit, 3 RBI game to lead his team to double digit runs. In Boston sports terms, the only other time I’ve felt this is when Isaiah Thomas was hitting game winners in the 4th Quarter for the Celtics. He was automatic, and so is Devers.
If Devers keeps of this trend, and I think he will, he can be a once in a generation type of hitter, sure to own Boston in a way that only Boston can be owned. The Red Sox have him under control until 2023. If they give him a long-term extension like they gave to Xander Bogaerts, the left side of the infield will be set for a very long time.
Rafael Devers is having a magical season, it’s as simple as that.
@pizzatheecat
