Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers is as hot as anyone at the plate right now and leads the American League in batting average.
The Boston Red Sox went into Mother’s Day weekend with a thought. The fact that it’s a new beginning. Earlier this season when the team was in Seattle, Boston was at .500 and so were the Mariners. That would be the exact same case on Friday night as the Red Sox would welcome the Mariners to Fenway for a three-game weekend series.
The Red Sox offense would explode for 14 runs as Rafael Devers collected three hits, one of them being a solo shot to right. Devers wasn’t done, however. With the Sox down 4-2 in the bottom of the third on Saturday, the bases were juiced with one out. Devers would take a pitch and ground it back up the middle for a base hit, knotting the score up at four. He would end the day with three more hits and 2 RBI’s, as Boston would win it 9-5.
If you thought Raffy was done for the weekend, he sure wasn’t. He added three more hits on Mother’s Day, getting an RBI and raising his batting average up to .336 and his OPS at .864.
It’s really incredible and awesome to see what Devers has been able to do in 2019. He’s seeing the baseball like a beachball right now and it was only a matter of time. I saw this potential in the young kid from the moment I first saw him play. He’s always had big league potential and has always been capable of not only just being a good player, but an absolute star in this league. This is exactly what he’s showing right now.
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His .336 batting average now leads the American League, which is pretty wild to think about. Devers hasn’t really shown that he can be much of a .300 hitter up until this point, but I’m honestly not too surprised. I’ve always compared Raffy to Papi, and I know that’s a big comparison but I’ve always seen Devers as a guy who can live up to that potential. He has the raw power, but more importantly, the ability to get on base and hit for a good average, which is exactly what David Ortiz did.
The problem with Devers is the defense, but will it improve? No doubt. He puts in as much work as possible and it shows, as he’s already shown big improvements this year. Now it’s still unknown as to if Devers is going to be a third baseman his whole career. I could see him going to first at some point or maybe even forgetting about defense altogether and going to the DH spot.
However, right now that won’t be the case. He’s going to continue to work on his craft and get better over at the hot corner, and if his defense becomes too big of a problem, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, there’s one thing certain about Rafael Devers. The man can hit, and it’s great to see.