Red Sox Strut: Third baseman Rafael Devers, RHP Rick Porcello
By Sean Penney
Position Player who gets to Strut
He’s only 20 years old with a mere 21 games under his belt at the major league level, yet Rafael Devers may already be the best third baseman in franchise history. Ok, not quite, but he’s well on his way to putting his name in the conversation by doing things few Red Sox hitters have ever done.
Devers remained hot this week with a 9-for-22 (.409) performance. Four of those hits were home runs, including a pair against the Yankees. Dating back to the series in the Bronx earlier this month, Devers hit a home run in three consecutive games against the Yankees. The last player to do that against the Yankees before turning 21 years old was Babe Ruth in 1915.
.@Rafael_Devers hits one into the Monster Seats to give the @RedSox an early lead over the @Yankees. #MLBNShowcase pic.twitter.com/1XgIb8iPi1
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) August 18, 2017
You may recall the homer he blasted off of a 102 mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman in Yankee Stadium. His home runs this week weren’t quite as dramatic, but it goes to show the rookie isn’t shying away from Boston’s biggest rival.
Devers is the only hitter under the age of 21 to ever smash eight home runs in their first 20 major league games. He already has 28 hits in 21 games.
The rookie also started the first 5-4-3 triple play of his career against the St. Louis Cardinals this week. Granted it was the lead-footed Yadier Molina chugging along toward first base on a routine grounder, but Devers showed great footwork to tag the bag behind him and fire the ball over to second.
Devers is proving to be the spark plug the Red Sox needed to vault them to the top of the AL East.