Rafael Devers has not been what the Red Sox had hoped this year. He’s hitting in the low .200s, not getting on base much, and the power has been average. His defense? Not good at all. He has 13 errors this year, which makes up more than half of the team’s total.
There’s just one thing to think about here. He’s 21. He’s in his first year of being able to legally drink. In other words, he’s pretty darn young. He also looks like he’s about ten years younger than he really is.
Now why is his age so important? It’s to show that he’s nowhere even near his prime yet. He still has so many years to work on his craft and get better at both parts of his game, hitting and fielding. It’s unknown if he will be a third baseman his whole career, but currently he will be riding the hot corner.
Recently J.D. Martinez started talking about this program he’s been doing that works on hitting. He said there are several guys on this program, including Devers himself. The Red Sox were coming off a sweep in Baltimore, where Devers had a great series himself. Then they went to Safeco field in Seattle to take on the Mariners, where Devers made his MLB debut. Last season he raked in his first major league hit via a home run. This has to be the place where he’ll start off a hot streak, right? Against Felix Hernandez on Thursday night, Devers made contact twice, earning a single in the second and a double in the fourth. On Friday night’s game, he got base hits in the third and eighth innings.
Devers has shown signs of life lately. You have to remember that this kid is still young and has so much potential in his future. You just have to be patient. These are the signs that Rafael Devers will be okay.