Rafael Devers

shaggydog2000

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In the pictures in the article above, he looks a little soft. I don't think that's the end of the world for a baseball player. If he stays agile enough to play 3rd and puts a charge in the ball the way they say he does, that is way more important than his body fat %.
 

PaulinMyrBch

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MYRTLE BEACH!!!!
I know he's 20 but he's not out of puberty. No facial hair, no arm hair. He may always have that pudgy look, but he's still shedding some baby fat.
 

The Talented Allen Ripley

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I was at Hadlock on Saturday and saw him hit a grand slam to dead center field, about 20 feet over the 400 foot sign. In cool and very damp conditions.

My non-professional opinion? He's legit.
 

shaggydog2000

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His walk rate has also improved quite a bit since the beginning of the year. It took him almost 40 AB to get a walk. Since then he is around a 9% walk rate in 50 AB. I think that part of his game will be fine, and maybe he was just too aggressive to start the year.
 

Dummy Hoy

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I was at Hadlock on Saturday and saw him hit a grand slam to dead center field, about 20 feet over the 400 foot sign. In cool and very damp conditions.

My non-professional opinion? He's legit.
Jeff Paternostro of BP (also a Wednesday fan btw Rip) saw Devers in Hartford last week and couldn't stop raving. Here's his quote from a chat on friday:
It is going to be difficult for me to find five prospects better than him for our midseason 50. I think he can handle third in the majors. Sneaky athletic, and the offensive tools are plus.
 

Detts

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He had plus bat speed and raw power already at Greenville. He just needed pitch recognition and strike zone command. Sounds like he is figuring it out.
 

shaggydog2000

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So Devers had himself a mini-slump. From May 19th to the 27th he hit .103 with no extra base hits, only 1 BB, and 8k in 29 AB across 7 games. That's not good. Since then in 34 AB across 9 games he's hit .382/.447/.765 with 3 HR. That is a pretty good job of figuring things out. With 200 AB so far in AA and good strikeout and walk numbers, I don't think it will be long before he gets promoted.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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So Devers had himself a mini-slump. From May 19th to the 27th he hit .103 with no extra base hits, only 1 BB, and 8k in 29 AB across 7 games. That's not good. Since then in 34 AB across 9 games he's hit .382/.447/.765 with 3 HR. That is a pretty good job of figuring things out. With 200 AB so far in AA and good strikeout and walk numbers, I don't think it will be long before he gets promoted.
We discuss Devers at length on the podcast this week. It's up on Soundcloud now, so it should show up if your'e subscribed on your favored podcast app. We'll have a link posted on the main board later today.

Spoiler: We discuss the possibility of a major league call up this summer.
 

shaggydog2000

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We discuss Devers at length on the podcast this week. It's up on Soundcloud now, so it should show up if your'e subscribed on your favored podcast app. We'll have a link posted on the main board later today.

Spoiler: We discuss the possibility of a major league call up this summer.
That would be pretty nice. And I think it has decent odds of happening.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Slashing .373/.413/.780 and a .405 BAbip over his last 15 games and 63 PA. He has 7 doubles, 1 triple and 5 HRs in that period to go with 4bb/12k.

In his last 180 PA extend 43 games, he is hitting .319/.389/.613, .342 BAbip. 12 doubles, 1 triple, 12 HRs. 19bb/33k.

That in game power though. It's arrived. Most encouraging sign this year? He's now hitting .290/.371/.435 vs lefties in 70 PA. He has 2 HRs off them in the last 4 games, having gone since August 2015 without hitting one of southpaws.
 

ehaz

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Comparing their first runs through Portland (age)

Yoan Moncada (21): 62 games, .277/.379/.531, 3.24 PA per K

Rafael Devers (20): 45 games, .297/.355/.564, 5.15 PA per K

Devers has posted far better K numbers throughout his career while facing the opposition at a younger age. It might not be indicative of much, but I wonder if he doesn't have the same hole in his swing/inability to hit breaking pitches. Regardless, impressive for a 20 year old!

Edit: To add some more comparisons...

Benintendi (21): 63 games, .295/.357/.515, 8.77 PA per K

Bogaerts (20): 56 games, .311/.407/.502, 4.92 PA per K
*Note - this ignores X's less impressive 20 game taste of AA in his age 19 season due to tiny sample size.

Betts (21): 54 games, .355/.443/.551, 12.65 PA per K
 
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Snodgrass'Muff

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Devers most certainly does not have a hole like Moncada does/did. That's not to say he won't have any trouble with major league breaking pitches, but he has never had the amount of swing and miss in his game as Moncada. He's, quite simply, a much better contact hitter.

He's also looking like he may be a better power hitter, which would make him a better overall hitter. That said, Moncada is going to play a slightly more premium defensive position and steal a whole bunch of bags, and that probably means he'll be the better major leaguer even with a 30% K rate.

Regardless, Devers is incredibly exciting. Start getting worked up.
 
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pantsparty

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I was at the Sea Dogs/Yard Goats today and got to see him first-hand. He swings a lot, but he doesn't swing and miss much. Fouls off a lot of pitches while looking for something he can crush. And the homerun he crushed today was beautiful - cleared the second deck in right and would have been completely out of the stadium if not for the netting they have up.
 

ehaz

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That home run was very impressive. He is now up to .308/.373/.597. Not only has Devers dramatically improved his in-game power (.161 ISO last year to .289 in 2017), but he's also been more selective at the plate improving his BB% by two points while keeping his K% roughly equivalent at 17.5%.

All this while posting the lowest BABIP of his career.
 

shaggydog2000

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That home run was very impressive. He is now up to .308/.373/.597. Not only has Devers dramatically improved his in-game power (.161 ISO last year to .289 in 2017), but he's also been more selective at the plate improving his BB% by two points while keeping his K% roughly equivalent at 17.5%.

All this while posting the lowest BABIP of his career.
He also has the highest OPS of any hitter in AA.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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