Red Sox News: Now we know why Rafael Devers struggled in 2020

Red Sox star Rafael Devers dealt with an ankle injury last season

Last year was an epic disaster for the Boston Red Sox but the difficult season was harder on certain players. One who didn’t fare well under the unprecedented conditions of the shortened season is third baseman Rafael Devers.

On the heels of a breakout season that saw him set career-highs across the board at the plate and make encouraging progress in the field, Devers regressed significantly on both sides in 2020. His batting averaged tumbled from .311 to .263 and his OPS fell over 100 points to .793. Devers led all major league players with 14 errors and his -6 defensive runs saved placed him at the bottom at his position.

As discouraging as this step backwards in his development was, it turns out his regression can at least partially be blamed on an ankle injury he suffered on Aug. 9 in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park.

Red Sox third base coach Carlos Febles explained to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe that Devers’ ankle never fully recovered from that injury and it hindered his performance for the remainder of the season, particularly on defense.

"“There were a few errors he made that I don’t think he would have made if he would have been healthy, to be honest,” said Febles. “Sometimes he was not setting his feet the way he should.“You need your ankles. You need your legs. When an athlete is not healthy and he’s concerned about not making some moves when you go to the baseball, sometimes it affects the way you play.”"

A sore ankle would certainly limit his range at the hot corner, preventing him from getting to ground balls we expect Devers to make a play on. Even when he managed to scoop the ball into his glove, favoring one leg due to his ailing ankle makes it difficult to find the balance to make an accurate throw across the diamond.

A balky ankle could also alter his stance at the plate, limiting his ability to use his legs to generate power. Devers wasn’t driving the ball the way he did the previous season with his Line Drive percentage declining from 29.7% in 2019 to 24.0% last year. He ranked in the top seven percent of the league with a 48.4 Hard Hit percentage the previous year only for that rate to fall to 43.6% in 2020.

Devers missed only two games with the injury but went into a slump as soon as he returned. He went 0-for-3 in his first game back and 5-for-25 (.200) in a six-game stretch against the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees that all resulted in Red Sox losses.

In a normal 162-game season, the Red Sox would have put Devers on the injured list to allow his ankle to recover. A few weeks of rest and a short rehab assignment would allow him to return to the lineup without missing a beat.

He didn’t have that luxury in a 60-game season. The injured occurred early enough in the season that Boston felt they still had a chance to make a run to get back into the hunt. Devers tried to power through it but the injury sapped too much of his offensive production and made him a liability in the field.

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Devers looked ready to build on his career year when he arrived for spring training in February but he showed up to summer camp following the COVID-19 hiatus looking sluggish and out of shape. It turns out that being kept in isolation for months without access to the training facility isn’t ideal for staying in playing shape (at least that’s always been my excuse for not being in great shape). Perhaps he could have played his way into shape during the season but the ankle injury set him back and there wasn’t sufficient time in the short season to recover.

The good news is that according to Devers’ agent, Nelson Montes de Oca, the star third baseman is fully healthy and will be ready to get back to work when spring training begins next month.

"“He’s 100 percent now,” Montes de Oca said. “He’s getting ready to have a really good 2021 season. He takes pride on helping the team win and hopefully bringing another championship. He loves that team. He loves the city and loves the fans.”"

With what we hope will be a normal offseason with an uninterrupted training camp to prepare for a full slate of games in 2021, Devers should be able to bounce back from his disappointing season to recapture the form that made him an emerging star.

A lot went wrong for Devers and the Red Sox last season but improved health will be the key to turning the team’s fortune around next season.