3 Key Red Sox Takeaways from the Detroit Tigers Series

1. Rafael Devers’ defense looks vastly improved

When Spring Training opened, there was a lot of talk about how far Rafael Devers had come defensively since last season. But as Red Sox fans, this wasn’t the first time we had heard this. There were similar rumblings heading into last season, and then Devers went on to lead all major league third basemen with 22 errors.

But this year is supposed to be different. And it might seem crazy to think – but what if it actually is?

After a strong defensive first series of the season in the Bronx, Devers played his second straight series of error-free baseball in Detroit. And while it’s probably still too small of a sample size to get overly excited, there is a lot of optimism that Devers’ improved defense could be for real.

In the past, Devers’ defensive woes have centered primarily around the accuracy of his arm. Before the season started, Red Sox Manager Alex Cora talked about it with Tony Massarotti on The Baseball Hour podcast.

“It’s the only problem that Raffy has defensively, because he has a good arm, a first step, he has range. It’s out conversion,” Cora said. “He will throw the ball away on a great play. In our numbers, he was average or above average in a lot of things, but below average in out conversion.”

Devers showed off his improved “out conversion” several times against Detroit.

Devers made three plays in the series that exemplified tremendous footwork and an ability to get himself into a position to make an accurate throw, something that he has gotten lazy with in the past. One play can be seen by clicking play on the video above. One play involved him ranging to his left, spinning and throwing a strike across the diamond to first base. And one play was on a foul pop up where he gathered and threw across the diamond to double up the runner at first.

As Cora mentioned on The Baseball Hour, the arm strength is there. And maybe, just maybe, the accuracy now is too.

2. The Red Sox need a closer, and it probably won’t come internally.

By most accounts, the bullpen has been a pleasant surprise to start the season. One silver lining of the truncated Spring Training has been that the Red Sox get to carry two extra pitchers on the roster for the first month of the season. This has allowed Alex Cora to get an extended look at fringe bullpen options.

But even with the extra arms on the staff to begin the year, no one has emerged as a candidate to take control of the 9th inning.

Jake Diekman and Kutter Crawford both showed that they might have the stuff during the Yankees series, but both followed that up with less-than-ideal performances in the series finale against the Tigers.

Matt Barnes returned during the series, appearing in the 6th inning of games 1 and 3 and didn’t allow a run. But that may provide more reason to think he is better served as a mid-inning or setup option than as a closer considering his woes during the second half of last season.

Matt Strahm is a name that has been mentioned as a possibility, but he threw just 0.2 innings during the series and wasn’t brought in during either save situation. Strahm’s repertoire is not traditional of a closer and he looks like he may be best utilized as a guy who can come in with runners on base.

Garrett Whitlock may end up getting a few saves by the nature of what his role appears to be, but it looks all but certain that he won’t have the availability needed to be a regular closer. That said, the role he is slated for this year appears to be a big one for this team.

Hansel Robles shut the door on a potential disaster during Game 3 of the series and, if there is a favorite to win the job, it appears to be him as of now. But Robles is 31 years old, and we know what he is at this point of his career. He has proven that he can get big outs, but he is also inconsistent. And an inconsistent closer is something that can cost a team down the stretch.

Josh Taylor might be the most intriguing option of the group, and he proved last year that he can be an elite arm when healthy and his command is working. But injuries have become an issue for him recently, and he is currently spending his fourth stint on the Injured List since last August.

Since 2004, every Red Sox team that has won the World Series has a had a clear and proven closer at the backend of the bullpen. The current Red Sox bullpen looks a lot better thus far than most people expected, but the recent Detroit series showed that the pitcher to fill the closer role probably isn’t on the active roster.

Expect the Red Sox to be tied to most relievers, especially with closing experience, that become available on the trade market as the season unfolds.

3. The Red Sox offense is as advertised before the season started.

The Red Sox finished the series with the Tigers by scoring 14 runs in their last 13 innings. While the offense was mostly quiet during the opening series in New York outside of the very first inning, the bats came alive in the second half of the Detroit series.

Maybe it’s a coincidence, maybe it isn’t. But the Red Sox offense seems to be at its best when Kiké Hernandez finds a way to reach base. He led off with a walk during the first inning against the Yankees, and it was downhill for both him and the Red Sox offense after that. It was also Hernandez who drove in the first run of Game 2 against the Tigers when he laced a double down the right field line for his first hit of the season, scoring Kevin Plawecki.

The Red Sox scored two more runs that inning, and two more in the 8th to win the game 5-3.

The offense picked it right back up in Game 3 against Eduardo Rodriguez. Hernandez got things going again, this time by belting his first home run of the season to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning.

The Sox went on to score six more runs in the 4th before ultimately winning the game 9-7.

Hernandez broke out. Rafael Devers went 6 for 14 with 3 RBI & 3 runs scored. J.D. Martinez was 3 for 9 with 3 BB, 1 HR, 2 RBI & 3 runs scored. Trevor Story returned from food poisoning at had two hits in Game 3. And even Jackie Bradley Jr. doubled twice.

The Red Sox offense showed how good it can be, and how deep it is during the second half of the series. Those 14 runs were scored with little help from guys like Xander Bogaerts and Alex Verdugo, both of which had just one hit during the series. Not everyone will be hot every night, but this offense is deep enough to put up runs on a nightly basis even if a couple of the regular producers aren’t performing.