Rafael Devers, JD Martinez and the future at the corners

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,375
Devers' total bases pace (using his whole year, not just the part of the season when he erupted): 386. Some great Red Sox players and their best TB seasons (with Boston)....

Jim Rice - 406 (1978) - 25 hr, 15 3b (!), 46 hr
David Ortiz - 363 (2005) - 40 2b, 1 3b, 47 hr
Manny Ramirez - 348 (2004) - 44 2b, 0 3b, 43 hr
Nomar Garciaparra - 365 (1997) - 44 2b, 11 3b, 30 hr
Carl Yastrzemski - 360 (1967) - 31 2b, 4 3b, 44 hr
Ted Williams - 368 (1949) - 39 2b, 3 3b, 43 hr
Jimmie Foxx - 398 (1938) - 33 2b, 9 3b, 50 hr
Mookie Betts - 359 (2016) - 42 2b, 5 3b, 31 hr
Rafael Devers (pace) - 386 - 59 2b, 4 3b, 35 hr

Jim Rice also had a couple other monster TB seasons (382 in 1977 and 369 in 1979). But Devers is on pace for the third highest TB season in Red Sox history, behind Rice's 406 and Foxx's 398.
 

Jed Zeppelin

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 23, 2008
51,289
But he leads the league in CS. He's a bum.

Was that really his comp? Seems odd. Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly but the hype train was on top of Devers right out of the gate and many were predicting him to be a middle of the order bat with 30+ HR potential. It was his glove that was in question. He was widely considered the best left handed bat available in the international draft that year. Not that it's an insult to be compared to Robinson Cano.
Here is his original prospect thread where that was the swing comp being thrown around: https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/rafael-devers.2108/

At the time, Cano was coming off four straight years of ~30 HR, top 6 MVP finishes, Silver Sluggers and ~.900 OPS so pretty much near the peak of what you'd ever reasonably project for a 16 year old international signee.
 

Al Zarilla

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 8, 2005
58,867
San Andreas Fault
Devers' total bases pace (using his whole year, not just the part of the season when he erupted): 386. Some great Red Sox players and their best TB seasons (with Boston)....

Jim Rice - 406 (1978) - 25 hr, 15 3b (!), 46 hr
David Ortiz - 363 (2005) - 40 2b, 1 3b, 47 hr
Manny Ramirez - 348 (2004) - 44 2b, 0 3b, 43 hr
Nomar Garciaparra - 365 (1997) - 44 2b, 11 3b, 30 hr
Carl Yastrzemski - 360 (1967) - 31 2b, 4 3b, 44 hr
Ted Williams - 368 (1949) - 39 2b, 3 3b, 43 hr
Jimmie Foxx - 398 (1938) - 33 2b, 9 3b, 50 hr
Mookie Betts - 359 (2016) - 42 2b, 5 3b, 31 hr
Rafael Devers (pace) - 386 - 59 2b, 4 3b, 35 hr

Jim Rice also had a couple other monster TB seasons (382 in 1977 and 369 in 1979). But Devers is on pace for the third highest TB season in Red Sox history, behind Rice's 406 and Foxx's 398.
I know you said great Red Sox, but Jacoby Ellsbury 364 TB in 2011. Hey, key contributor to 2 World Series titles; he was really really good if not great.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 11, 2007
6,346
Devers has been in pretty big slump the past 2 weeks. JDM has been decent at the dish... but he's an absolute butcher in the field. Why Cora continues to play him in RF at Fenway is beyond me. The best we can say at this point is that he (Cora) is trying to advertise to all NL teams that they DO NOT want him on their roster next season. Is he trying to remove a market for JDM?
 

sean1562

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 17, 2011
3,620
yea i remember when he was a FA there was a lot of talk by Boras that defensive metrics exaggerated how bad he is in the field. But man he is absolutely terrible out there. Maybe have him take some reps at 1b? the guy is not an outfielder
 

Savin Hillbilly

loves the secret sauce
SoSH Member
Jul 10, 2007
18,783
The wrong side of the bridge....
He wasn't nearly as bad last year, either by the eye test or the numbers. Either age is catching up with him, he's been hobbled by minor injuries, or something. But it certainly seems like his OF playing days should be over, except in NL parks and maybe occasional other road games.
 

Savin Hillbilly

loves the secret sauce
SoSH Member
Jul 10, 2007
18,783
The wrong side of the bridge....
Disappointing that Devers finished only twelfth in the MVP voting, and JDM several spots behind that.
Yeah. For Raffy I think it's a case where the third-best player on a team is likely to get undervoted in comparison to the best player(s) on other teams, especially if his team didn't make the playoffs. In JD's case, a DH is always going to have to be pretty extraordinary to finish high in the voting.
 

Cesar Crespo

79
SoSH Member
Dec 22, 2002
21,588
BTW, speaking of Devers, in 2019 he became one of three 22-year-olds in baseball history to amass 200 hits and 30 HR. Can you name the other two without looking?

Alex Rodriguez and Joe DiMaggio
I got A-Rod. I guessed Pujols or Miggy Cabrera as the other though. Pujols did it at 23. It was his only season with 200 hits. Miggy Cabrera only had 198 hits. He also only has one season with 200 or more hits, his age 29 season.

A-rod also did it at the age of 20 fwiw. I wonder if they say 1 of 3 "22 year olds" they are ignoring players younger than 22 who accomplished the feat. If so, that seems pretty stupid even if it is correct.

edit: I don't have baseball reference but it's been done 5 times by players 22 or younger. A-Rod twice, Joe Dimaggio, Rafael Devers and someone else I don't know because I don't have a baseball reference subscription. Whoever it was hit 35 HRs in his age 21 season though.

double edit: After manipulating the season finder, the other player was Hal Trosky. I don't know anything about him but looking at his baseball reference and given he missed his age 32-33 season during 1942 and 1943, I'm guessing he went to war? Looks like it may have cost him a shot at the hall.
 
Last edited:

dhappy42

Straw Man
Oct 27, 2013
15,725
Michigan
According to Wikipedia, Trotsky was considered one of he best players to never play in an All-Star Game. He was a first baseman at the same time as Gehrig, Greenberg and Foxx.
 

sean1562

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 17, 2011
3,620
also from his wiki

Starting in 1938, Trosky started experiencing near constant migraine headaches, which began to affect his vision. After nearly being hit by a pitch, he announced on July 12, 1941, to Indians manager Roger Peckinpaugh and reporters, "a fellow can't go on like this forever. If I can't find some relief, I'll simply have to give up and spend the rest of my days on my farm in Iowa." [2] Peckinpaugh replaced Trosky with Oscar Grimes. Trosky retired in 1946 at age 33.