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Rafael Devers can’t do this alone. It doesn’t work that way. He can’t claim revenge on the Boston Red Sox if his new teammates don’t play sound, productive baseball.
The Giants were handed a 7-5 loss by Devers’ former team Friday night at Oracle Park, their third loss in four games since Devers arrived with a big bat and big anticipation he’d help revitalize the offense.
Devers went 0-for-5 and is hitting .188 through four games. His biggest moment came in the seventh inning with one out and a runner aboard. A home run would have tied the score, and he took three mighty swings off lefty Justin Wilson, the third resulted in a routine fly out.
Earlier, he tagged a ball to deep left-center and hopped out of the batter’s box as if he might have cleared the fence, but it was caught at the wall. In the ninth, Aroldis Chapman struck him out on a 101.8-mile per hour fastball.
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Since Devers’ arrival, the Giants have gone 4-for-36 with runners in scoring position, including 2-for-10 Friday. Second baseman Christian Koss, who played in Boston’s farm system from 2020-2023, twice grounded into bases-loaded double plays and committed a costly error.
“We will improve,” vowed Devers through Spanish-language interpreter Erwin Higueros. “There’s a reason why they brought me here. We’re going to improve. Our offense is going to get hot, and we’re going to start winning more games.”
Devers found himself in a strange predicament following the final pitch as Wilmer Flores, immediately after making the last out, and Chapman exchanged words, which prompted players from both sides to start walking toward one another. A brawl in Devers’ first game against the Red Sox? Nah. Umpires and coaches got in the way to assure nothing more transpired.
Skirmish or no skirmish, it was “weird” to see Devers in orange and black, said Boston shortstop Trevor Story. Manager Alex Cora called it “awkward.” Indeed, five days after the 4-for-1 trade that delivered Devers to San Francisco, he was the top storyline and will remain so all weekend.
With a slew of Boston-based media in town, it was inevitable that Devers would be peppered with questions. Naturally, the East Coast reporters wanted to know about his time with the Red Sox and why the relationships got so out of whack that the team felt compelled to trade him.
Devers Mark McGwired his way through at least eight of the questions, saying he’s unwilling to talk about the past. He did bite when asked why he’s willing to play first base with the Giants and wasn’t with the Red Sox.
“I would say that I put up some good numbers in Boston and I think I do feel I have earned some respect,” he said, “and if they would have asked me at the beginning of spring training, yes, I would have played.”
The Red Sox took Devers off third base when signing Alex Bregman over the winter and turned him into a designated hitter, a dramatic shift for an established All-Star, and when they asked him about transitioning to first base after Triston Casas’ season-ending injury, he took a pass.
Now he’s saying had the Red Sox wanted to move him to first after signing Bregman, it wouldn’t have been a problem. Devers didn’t appreciate the treatment and felt he deserved better. He has a different mindset with his change of scenery in San Francisco and promises to do anything manager Bob Melvin or president of baseball operations Buster Posey asks.
“It’s baseball. It’s a business,” Cora said. “He’s not the first guy to get traded. He’s not going to be the last. People have their opinions about the whole thing. Communication. First base. DH. Third base. The manager. GM. The owners. Whatever. It’s a baseball trade. From my end, I turn the page. I’ve got 26 guys in that locker room. They’re ready to go.”
Noticeably digging the vibe with his new team, despite a lack of wins, Devers was asked when was the last time he felt this happy professionally, and he said, “It’s been a long time. I don’t know how to explain it, but the few days I’ve been here, yes, I’ve been happy and I feel very relaxed.”
Devers worked out again at first base before the game, and the plan is for him to start playing the position once he feels fully comfortable. There’s no timetable. Flores played first in the opener, and Dom Smith is the best defensive first baseman on the roster.
“It’s not a position you’re going to learn to play overnight,” Devers said. “I just have to continue practicing. … When I feel I’m ready, I will let the manager know.”
Melvin said there will be “an ‘a ha’ moment,” though it’s not expected to be anytime soon for the former third baseman.
“He’s still not quite there yet,” Melvin said. “There’s a lot. It’s one thing to just field the ball and throw it. It’s another thing at first base to work on cutoffs and relays and bunt plays. It’s completely on the other side of the diamond. We’ve got to get him some fungoes to where he’s getting the spin of a lefty’s bats. It’s a process for him, and we’re not going to rush anything.”
The Red Sox are trying to move on without their No. 2 hitter. They’ve won three of four without Devers to move three games above .500, but they’ve got holes in the middle of their lineup without Devers and Bregman, who has been shelved since late May with a quadriceps injury.
Still, they had enough firepower to overcome a sloppy start by Hunter Dobbins, who walked five batters in four innings including three in a row to begin the second inning. Koss, the No. 9 hitter, didn’t try to take advantage of Dobbins’ wildness — rather than working the count and taking a strike, he swung at a 1-0 pitch and bounced into a double play.
He repeated the act two innings later. Bases loaded, no outs, another DP. A run scored each time, but it’s still a rally killer. The last player to hit into two bases-loaded, run-scoring double plays in the same game was Colorado’s David Bote in 2021. Before that, Toronto’s Dave Engle in 1984. That shows the rarity of Koss’ twin twin-killings.
He also made a fifth-inning fielding error that permitted the Red Sox to take a 5-4 lead. Starter Hayden Birdsong was pulled at that point, and five relievers followed. Boston’s 8-9 hitters did the most damage as Ceddanne Rafaela and David Hamilton collected five hits and each homered.
As for the Flores-Chapman exchange, after Flores popped up to the right side to end the game, he and Chapman crossed paths. Flores said while he was running to first base, he heard Chapman say something and was asking the left-hander what he said.
“I don’t know, I thought he said something,” Flores said. “I wanted to know what he said. Still doing know. … I asked what was going on.”
Chapman has been known to stare down hitters who make the final out, but Flores didn’t mention anything like that happened. During the final at-bat, Chapman was called for a pitch-clock violation. A ball was assess, making the count 2-2.
Asked if it bothered Chapman, Flores said, “I guess. I don’t know.”
Landen Roupp and Robbie Ray will start the weekend games for the Giants. Justin Verlander went on the paternity list but is expected back in time to make his next start on Tuesday.