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Rafael Devers is willing to play wherever the Giants want him
Rafael Devers is willing to play wherever the Giants want him
If you were to have told me one week ago that Rafael Devers would’ve been a San Francisco Giant, I would’ve thought that I stepped on a spider wrong and altered the course of human events.
While I wish I could have that much control over anything, I don’t. But Devers was traded in an unforeseen blockbuster Sunday evening after a months-long dispute with the Boston Red Sox front office regarding changing positions. Devers, who was relegated to designated hitter at the start of the season after Boston signed Alex Bregman, expressed frustration on multiple occasions when hew was asked to not only DH, but be a 1B after Triston Casas‘ season-ending knee injury.
However, the 28-year-old slugger expressed a change of tune in his introductory press conference with the Giants ahead of their three-game set against the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday.
“They’re the men in charge. I’m here to play wherever they want me to play,” Devers said, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.
In his team debut, Devers was a designated hitter, going 2-for-5 in the 3-2 loss, roping an RBI-double in the 3rd inning. However, he was seen taking ground balls at first pre-game.
Devers took grounders at shortstop earlier this month, but nothing much was made of it because of his previous reluctance to change positions. Relationships matter in sports (and in any field of business), and the Red Sox didn’t communicate their plans well enough with Devers, ultimately souring the relationship. It’s that simple, and it could’ve been avoided.
Ironically enough, Boston continues its 11-game road trip this weekend in San Francisco. You can bet that Devers plays first at least one of those games; the Giants designated Lamonte Wade Jr. for assignment in early June, replacing him with Dominic Smith.
After Tuesday’s game, Devers is slashing .274/.401/.505 with 15 home runs and 59 RBIs. He adds thump to a Giants lineup that sorely lacked it, and now that we’re roughly a month-and-a-half until the trade deadline, I’m curious if president Buster Posey continues to add.
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