The Boston Red Sox's two Wild Card losses to the New York Yankees spotlighted the former team's crippling weakness: a disappearing offense. The Red Sox were the lowest-scoring team in September and couldn't pull it together in time to put up anything close to a fight against the Yankees.
Until the middle of last season, the Red Sox carried an ever-present offensive threat, especially against their arch rivals. Consecutive Wild Card beatdowns have revealed just how much Boston needs Rafael Devers.
Had he remained with the Sox for the rest of his career, Devers had the chance to become the greatest Yankee killer in recent franchise history. Devers had an uncanny ability to collect clutch hits against New York and he was always in Yankee pitchers' heads, especially Gerrit Cole's. He would've been the Yankees' starter in Wild Card Game 3 if the Red Sox played well enough to get there.
Devers is batting .269/.346/.527 with 31 home runs over 122 games against the Yankees in his career (three of those games were with the San Francisco Giants, but all of his homers came with Boston). Eighteen of those home runs have come at Yankee Stadium — that's two more home runs than David Ortiz hit at the new Yankee Stadium.
Red Sox's second straight Wild Card loss to Yankees reminds them just how much they miss Rafael Devers
Just as Devers was unfazed by highly competitive rivalry matchups, postseason moments weren't too big for him. The slugger has clocked a .303/.382/.573 with eight home runs and 26 RBI in 26 career postseason games. The Red Sox batted .117/.159/.250 as a team in the Wild Card round — they could've used a bat like Devers' (or two or three of them) to stay alive when their season depended on it.
The Red Sox's lack of power haunted them all season. They hit 163 homers this year, the fifth-fewest of any team in the league. Devers' 37 home runs with the Giants would've led the Red Sox by 10. Willson Contreras was Boston's home run leader with 27 and Wilyer Abreu ranked second with 24 homers. With a pitching staff as dominant as the Sox's, one run could make all the difference. They could've clinched home field advantage in the Wild Card, or maybe even better, with a home run hitter of Devers' caliber in the lineup.
Boston gave New York the ultimate gift by trading Devers away. He wasn't the most agreeable player and his contract was pricey for someone whose time in the infield was nearing its end. But he's a consistent hitter who's always a home run threat, even on pitches that look unhittable, and players like that don't come around often.
The Red Sox had a not-so-secret weapon to beat the Yankees and they ruined their relationship with him in yet another self-inflicted loss. Boston hasn't beaten New York in the postseason since before the Devers trade and it isn't hard to see why.
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