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Back in June, we wrote about
the importance of being patient with
Rafael Devers. A couple of more months down the road we feel even stronger about that view. Sure, Raffy is frustrating to watch sometimes—swinging too often at first pitches and making bad errors in the field. But, don't forget, this kid is still only 21-years-old—and already has 26 HRs to his name. The only other
Carmine Hosers who reached 20 or more homers at age 21 were
Ted Williams and
Tony Conigliaro. Yeah, exactly. Last night was a prime example of why Boston should stick with this kid for the long-haul. Just back off the DL, he homered (#16), doubled (#22), and walked—and made at least two solid plays at 3B. On the year, he's up to .248—not great, but acceptable, given his power potential. Speaking of that, Devers is fifth on the team in extra-base-hits (38) and total bases (162)—trailing only
J.D. Martinez,
Mookie Betts,
Andrew Benintendi and
Xander Bogaerts. His 54 RBIs are sixth on the team—and he's even stolen five bases. The bottom line is that this guy has limitless potential and should be nurtured as much as possible by the franchise.
