Players always talk about getting off to a hot start. There is either the hope to build on a positive spring training, or to put a lousy pre-season behind him and start anew. For some players, it is about expectations and big contracts; while, for others, it’s about proving he belongs in the big leagues. But regardless of where a player resides in the baseball pecking order, no one wants to start the season with goose eggs peppering their batting line.
There is one club whose superstar they desperately wanted to get going early: Rafael Devers of the Boston Red Sox. Unfortunately for player and team, Devers has gotten off to a historically bad start.
Devers showed up for spring training in Fort Myers with a plan to play third base. Coming off a shoulder injury that required off-season surgery, Devers had a slow rollout during the spring – he played in only five games and got only 14 at bats. But, in his mind, he was Boston’s third baseman. As he described it, the position was promised to him “long term” when he signed his 10-year, $313.5 million contract in 2023.
However, neither Devers nor Boston’s front office envisioned signing the National League’s reigning third base Gold Glove winner, Alex Bregman. Upon arriving in Florida, when asked if he would be willing to become the everyday designated hitter, Devers had a simple one-word answer: “No.”
While Devers spent the spring rehabbing the right shoulder that was surgically repaired over the off-season, the Red Sox installed Bregman at third, giving prospect Marcelo Mayer reps there as well. By the time the club broke camp and headed to Mexico for a two-game series, and then headed to Texas to open the season, it was determined that Devers would, in fact, be the team’s designated hitter. But the truth is, he didn’t do so willingly. To punctuate the situation, Alex Cora was quoted as saying:
“We had conversations throughout spring training, and [Devers] was very vocal about how he felt. We made a decision. Alex is going to play third, and Raffy is going to DH. We all are in the winning business, and [Devers] understands that. It’s like everything – you don’t have to agree with it, but at the end of the day, [this is] what we’re going to do to perform every single day.”
So, the club started the season against the Rangers, and Devers was penciled into his customary number two hole in the lineup, behind Jarren Duran and ahead of Alex Bregman.
- On Thursday, Devers went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts (including one with two runners on).
- On Friday, he went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.
- On Saturday, he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts (but he did work a bases loaded walk for an RBI).
- On Sunday, when many thought that Alex Cora would give him a day to clear his head, Devers was back in the lineup. And the result was the same – after two soft ground balls, he struck out two more times before walking in the ninth.
- On Monday the team played an afternoon game in Baltimore. The change of scenery did not change any outcomes. Devers did work two walks, but he also went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.
After five games as Boston’s primary designated hitter, Devers is 0-for-19 with 15 strikeouts. He has swung and missed 34 times (plus a couple of foul tips). It remains to be seen how long this experiment can or will last. Boston is now 1-4, and has lost four straight games.
Devers is a career .278 hitter. Historically, March/April is his second-worst hitting month (just ahead of August), so there is every reason to believe that he will right the ship and start hitting soon. How soon is the question. For a team with playoff aspirations, they need their number two hitter to be happy and productive, or this whole designated hitter experiment could go south, and go south quickly.
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