Rafael Devers has started the season hot for the Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox have started the season with an uninspiring .500 record through 10 games but Rafael Devers has been swinging a hot bat throughout his team’s mediocre start. Devers has collected at least one hit in every game this season, including four multi-hit games.
His hitting streak extended to 10 games to begin this season when Devers singled to the opposite field with one out in the sixth inning of Marathon Monday’s game against the Minnesota Twins. A Xander Bogaerts double sent Devers over to third, although it took an agile swim move to avoid the tag at the bag.
Spoiler Alert: Raffy's SAFE. pic.twitter.com/hvtrEpcKqO
— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 18, 2022
The Red Sox loaded the bases when Alex Verdugo was intentionally walked but the rally stalled when Christian Arroyo flew out to end the inning. Failing to come away with at least one run in that situation was a turning point that crushed Boston’s chances at a comeback.
His 1-for-5 performance dropped Devers’ batting average to a still-scorching .349 for the season. He has tallied three doubles and a pair of homers while producing a .922 OPS.
Devers is now riding a hitting streak that has reached double-digits for the first time since 2020 when he had a 10-game hitting streak from September 5 – September 17. His career-high single-season streak is 11 games, which he did twice in 2019 (May 19- May 31 and July 20 – July 31).
Dating back to the end of the 2021 regular season, Devers is on a career-high 15-game hitting streak. He collected a hit in each of his final five games last season, including a 4-for-5, two homer performance in the regular season finale to help the Red Sox clinch a Wild Card spot.
The postseason doesn’t count toward these hitting streaks so an 0-for-2 performance in last year’s Wild Card win over the New York Yankees didn’t snap the streak that Devers ended the regular season with. Devers had a nine-game postseason hitting streak that was snapped in the decisive Game 6 of the ALCS against the Houston Astros.
The 15-game regular season hitting streak is the longest by a Red Sox hitter since Bogaerts collected hits in 15 consecutive games in 2017 (April 27 – May 12).
In 2019, Devers set a franchise record as the first Red Sox hitter under the age of 23 with 200+ hits in a single season. His .311 batting average that season was easily the best of his career. His current rate probably isn’t sustainable but if he can maintain an average around the .300 mark, Devers will have a chance at another 200-hit season. Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, Johnny Pesky, Mo Vaughn, and Dustin Pedroia are the only players with multiple 200+ hit seasons with the Red Sox.
This season has barely started but it’s shaping up to be a career year for Devers, who was already in midseason form throughout training camp and has entered the regular season on fire.