Rafael Devers is headed back to Fenway Park tomorrow, and his first trip there as a member of the San Francisco Giants is already carrying a heavy dose of baggage.
The Giants open a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox, and the matchup brings Devers back to the place where his run with Boston ended in a mid-summer trade last year. Boston moved him to San Francisco while the Giants were trying to chase a postseason berth, but the gamble didn’t pay off.
The team came up short, and Devers was uneven in the stretch run. At the time, that was treated as part of the adjustment to a new setting.
This year has not fully quieted the noise. Devers, now 29, started slowly in his first full season in the Bay and at one point ranked among the least efficient players in MLB in run production.
That led to a quick backlash from some Giants fans, who questioned his bat and his effort in the field. He has since improved the line, hitting .244 with 25 home runs and 69 RBI in 479 at-bats over 127 games.
The criticism around his defense has followed him too. Devers was seen as reluctant to move from third base and then to a more regular first-base role, and that perception has fed questions about his buy-in.
Some of that tension showed up in San Francisco this season, but the roots go back to Boston. The issue sharpened when Devers said he was not comfortable at first base after preparing to be the designated hitter in 2025.
“In spring training, they talked to me and basically told me to put away my glove and I wasn’t going to play any other position but DH,” Devers told reporters at the time. “I don’t feel that they were true to their word.
They told me that I was going to play this position - DH - and now they’re going back on that. I just don’t think they (are) staying true with their word.”
Even with all that resurfacing online, the Red Sox aren’t exactly painting him as a lost cause. Boston Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow told the San Francisco Chronicle by text that the organization still remembers Devers fondly.
“Raffi is one of the most talented players to put on a Red Sox uniform,” Breslow told the San Francisco Chronicle, via a text message. “I understand what he’s meant to this organization, the role that he played in winning the World Series.
“Also at the time I spoke about needing to make a very difficult decision that I felt improved our longer-term outlook here, and so we did that. I think Red Sox fans in San Francisco fans have both appreciated what Raffi brings when he sets foot in the box, the intimidation that he can have on an opposing pitcher.”
The online chatter around Devers’ return has stirred up the old arguments again, but the actual welcome he gets in Boston is still an open question. Whether it’s boos or cheers, his return has given this late-summer series a sharp edge before the first pitch is even thrown.
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