Last offseason, the Red Sox locked up third baseman Rafael Devers as a franchise cornerstone, signing him to a 10-year, $313 million extension. Devers was around during Boston’s 2018 World Series win as a 21-year-old, and the Red Sox value him as an elite offensive player.
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The 26-year-old hits .280 for his career, with his best year coming in 2019, where he hit .311 with a .916 OPS, adding 32 home runs and 115 RBIs. This season those numbers are falling, which Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam discussed on the most recent episode of the Fenway Rundown podcast. While Devers has 26 home runs and 79 RBIs, he’s batting .263 with a .847 OPS, the latter two being his lowest since 2018 (excluding a shortened 2020 season).
“I would say that in general, this has been, not a hugely, but somewhat of a disappointing season for Devers,” McAdam said.
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“When you’re committing to the kind of deal that he got, you need that guy, that $30 million a year guy to have an OPS a lot closer to .900 than what we’re seeing.”
Devers has played in 108 of Boston’s 114 games this season, and Cotillo believes there’s more to the third baseman’s declining numbers.
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“It’s not the year (Devers) had last year or even in 2021, but still, pretty good offensively, defensively,” Cotillo said. “It just looks like he is, at this point, worn down or banged up. I think just based on some of the plays we’ve seen over there in the last few weeks.”
Along with hitting, Devers’ defense is also struggling. His fielding percentage this season is .947, which is lower than the past two years, and his OAA (outs above average) is at -7.
“Typically with Devers the defensive lapses tend to come in bunches,” McAdam said. “Not unlike a player who begins to struggle offensively, you can see a slump coming when he makes a missed play or two. I think it stays with him still. I think that’s part of the game that has to be addressed, where he gets into defensive funks or slumps that last longer than they should. He isn’t able to turn the page as quickly after a couple of bad games.”
