Rafael Devers

Jed Zeppelin

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Devers was the #3 international prospect last summer and signed for $1.5 mil, the biggest bonus the Sox have given to a Latin American player since Vinicio and Iglesias in '09 (Lin signed for $2mil in '12). He turned 17 in October.
 
BA blurb:
Devers, 16, is the most advanced lefthanded hitter on the international market. At 6-foot-1, 215 pounds, he has a compact swing and good bat speed. Devers played in the International Prospect League and trains with Javier Rodriguez and Rudy Santin.
 
SP.com:
Very good bat speed and an advanced approach at the plate. Has reportedly grown two inches and gained twenty-five pounds since January 2013. Average present power with the potential for plus power as he matures. Defense is below-average. May need to move to first base in the future, especially if he experiences another growth spurt.
 
Devers was reportedly very impressive at fall instrux and Sox Prospects is projecting him to begin in the GCL, which would be nice in terms of getting eyes on him rather than relying on those semi-mysterious DSL numbers. Doesn't sound nearly as raw as Almanzar, the last corner infield bat they splurged on way back in '07. Since then, most of the money has gone to shortstops, centerfielders, and pitchers with a brief interlude in 2010 for the Cubans Ibarra and Linares.
 
Definitely will be one of the most interesting prospects below AA to follow. In a somewhat related note, the projected Salem lineup is an absolute wasteland, with some moderately interesting pitchers preventing the team from being a total black hole.
 
 
 

billy ashley

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Devers has already gotten comparisons to Robinson Cano in terms of his swing. Unfortunately, while he is listed is a 3b, there's already a great deal of talk about him having to move to first as he fills out. 
 
You're correct about Salem. Vinicio is sort of a guy to follow, but his 2013 was off the charts bad. Weems is listed on SoxProspects as the back-up catcher, but I suppose he's worth following due to the fact that Boston drafted him in the third round in 2011 (though this was likely to save money for guys like Swihart, Kukuk, Owens, Golson, Betts and Jerez).
 

pokey_reese

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billy ashley said:
Devers has already gotten comparisons to Robinson Cano in terms of his swing. Unfortunately, while he is listed is a 3b, there's already a great deal of talk about him having to move to first as he fills out. 
 
You're correct about Salem. Vinicio is sort of a guy to follow, but his 2013 was off the charts bad. Weems is listed on SoxProspects as the back-up catcher, but I suppose he's worth following due to the fact that Boston drafted him in the third round in 2011 (though this was likely to save money for guys like Swihart, Kukuk, Owens, Golson, Betts and Jerez).
Given the total context of the system, I don't know that potentially moving to first is that much of a bad thing. 
 

Hoplite

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Have also heard the Cano comparisons on his swing. I've seen video of his swing from a year ago and video of his current swing and he's made a lot of mechanical improvements in a relatively short time. He could potentially be a household prospect name if he hits well next year.
 

SaveBooFerriss

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jsinger121 said:
Devers is starting the year in the DSL.
 
I am very surprised by this.  I thought he was certain to start in the GCL based on the reports from instructs and ST.  Oh well, Xander spent is age 17 season in the DSL and it worked out fine for him.  
 

Detts

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billy ashley said:
Devers has already gotten comparisons to Robinson Cano in terms of his swing. Unfortunately, while he is listed is a 3b, there's already a great deal of talk about him having to move to first as he fills out. 
 
You're correct about Salem. Vinicio is sort of a guy to follow, but his 2013 was off the charts bad. Weems is listed on SoxProspects as the back-up catcher, but I suppose he's worth following due to the fact that Boston drafted him in the third round in 2011 (though this was likely to save money for guys like Swihart, Kukuk, Owens, Golson, Betts and Jerez).
 
Missed this before.  
 
Under no scenario do you want to follow Weems.  Unless you hate yourself:
 
271/190/462
 
In his 3rd year at Greenville.
 

WenZink

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SaveBooFerriss said:
 
I am very surprised by this.  I thought he was certain to start in the GCL based on the reports from instructs and ST.  Oh well, Xander spent is age 17 season in the DSL and it worked out fine for him.  
 
The decision to start Devers in the DSL could well be related to maturity and cultural issues.  If he's great in the DSL, you can always have him "skip a grade" later on.  But you start him too high, gets homesick and hits .220, then what do you do?
 

jsinger121

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WenZink said:
The decision to start Devers in the DSL could well be related to maturity and cultural issues.  If he's great in the DSL, you can always have him "skip a grade" later on.  But you start him too high, gets homesick and hits .220, then what do you do?
Unlikely as he attended spring training in fort Myers. They don't send immature players to Florida and waste a visa on them.
 

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SaveBooFerriss said:
 
I am very surprised by this.  I thought he was certain to start in the GCL based on the reports from instructs and ST.  Oh well, Xander spent is age 17 season in the DSL and it worked out fine for him.  
Chris Hatfield of Sox Prospects pointed out that in recent years the Sox have had a few prospects who were in uniform for both the DSL opener and the GCL opener.  It's at least possible that Devers was sent to the DSL just to get a bit of game experience before the start of the GCL season.
 

Nite Vizhun UV

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Devers has been a lot of fun to follow in his first season. I'm itching to see how his bat plays in upper levels.
 
Rafael Devers continued his remarkable professional debut, going 2-for-4 and stealing a base while driving in a pair of runs. He’s hitting .447/.542/.711 while showing an all-fields approach that is rarely seen from a 17-year-old. According to MLBFarm.com, 27 percent of the balls he’s put in play have been to center field, while 21 percent have gone to right and 21 percent to left.
   
-Alex Speier
 

OttoC

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jsinger121 said:
Unlikely as he attended spring training in fort Myers. They don't send immature players to Florida and waste a visa on them.
 
 
I don't really know about visas and baseball but would a visa to attend spring training necessarily be the same as the visa needed to play in the GCL?
 

jsinger121

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OttoC said:
I don't really know about visas and baseball but would a visa to attend spring training necessarily be the same as the visa needed to play in the GCL?
It's a visa for the year. I expect him to be in Fort Myers at the start of the GCL season. They likely wanted him to get at bats and had to do it in the DSL.
 

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foulkehampshire said:
He might sniff Greenville at the end of the year if he keeps hitting like this. 
 
Impressive stuff. 
 
If he sniffs Greenville this year I'll start going to games 2-3 times a week like I did when Xander was here.
 

uncannymanny

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http://www.masslive.com/redsox/index.ssf/2014/07/red_sox_prospect_rafael_devers.html

17-year-old Red Sox prospect Rafael Devers made quite the debut on Friday.

The 6-foot, 195-pound third baseman went 4-for-4 with a double, triple, walk and three RBIs in his GCL debut Friday as the GCL Red Sox beat the GCL Twins, 13-3.

...

In 28 games this season in the Dominican Summer League, Devers hit .337/.445/.538 with 12 extra-base hits, 21 walks and just 20 strikeouts.

By comparison, Red Sox third baseman Xander Bogaerts played 63 games in the Dominican Summer League in 2010 at age 17, the summer after he signed with Boston as an international free agent. In his 63 games he hit .314/.396/.423 with 15 extra-base hits, 30 walks and 37 strikeouts.
 

Drek717

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With a bat in his hand this kid is something else.  Hopefully now that he's in the GCL we start getting some word on his defense.  I wouldn't be surprised if he gets moved off 3B soon to accelerate his climb through the system.  You can't hold a bat like his down waiting for the kid's defense to catch up because it might never do that.
 
My only concern would be where to move him.  Probably LF as with the additions of Ockimey and Sam Travis in the draft, Nick Longhi last year, and Travis Shaw at AAA the 1B stable is actually looking pretty well filled out for the first time in a while.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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So after 15 games and 61 PAs, he's at 370/426/593 with a .222 ISO and a 186 wRC+ which is in the range of his wRC+ from the DSL (172). His walk rate has been roughly cut in half, but his strike out rate isn't far off from his DSL rate, sitting at 18% currently. I think it might be time to start getting excited about this kid. He's still 3 months shy of his 18th birthday.
 

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Snodgrass'Muff said:
So after 15 games and 61 PAs, he's at 370/426/593 with a .222 ISO and a 186 wRC+ which is in the range of his wRC+ from the DSL (172). His walk rate has been roughly cut in half, but his strike out rate isn't far off from his DSL rate, sitting at 18% currently. I think it might be time to start getting excited about this kid. He's still 3 months shy of his 18th birthday.
 
Start?  There aren't very many seats left on the bandwagon already!
 
Heck, even soxprospects has him at number 4 already.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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I was more referring to the fact that this thread has been untouched for almost 3 weeks. :)
 
Yeah, he's looking like he has taken the first few steps along the Bogaerts path. Hopefully at this time next year we're talking about getting him to Portland to start 2016.
 

Drek717

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Devers hits a granny today for his second HR in the last two days.  Adds a single while he's at it.  His GCL sample is now only one AB shy of his DSL sample, the two slash lines are as follows.  Also, his 18th birthday isn't until October 24th.
 
DSL: .337/.445/.538
GCL: .340/.400/.563
 
So yeah, kid can swing the bat huh?
 

mabrowndog

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Eddie Jurak said:
Will he get a taste of Lowell this year?
 
I'd be really surprised if they moved him up the ladder with just a few weeks left in the season. He was 1.2 years younger than the average DSL player, and in the GCL that gap is 2.7 years. For the NYPL, it's a solid 4-year difference. Despite his immense talents, that's a pretty huge gap in both the physical size & strength of players and emotional maturity.
 
And I'm not just referring to the on-field disparity. I'm no teen behavior expert and I might be talking out of my ass here, but being around kids closer to his age, as well as those with whom he has an ethnic bond (players from the DR or other Latin American countries make up half the GCL roster) would seem to be of immense value for a 17-year-old assimilating into American culture. That wouldn't be the case at Lowell, where most of the roster is made up of former US college & JUCO players. Not to mention that Lowell will never be confused with Fort Myers.
 
I'm not saying it's a hard & fast rule, but I can't recall the club making a similar move mid-season with a kid who'd already advanced from DSL to GCL in the same year. The youngest active Spinner is RHP Enfember Martinez, a Venezuelan who turns 19 at month's end. Like Devers this year, he was promoted last season from DSL to GCL before beginning 2014 with Lowell. Then there's OF Manuel Margot, arguably on the same "rising star" level as Devers. After playing all of 2012 in the DSL and turning 18 at season's end, Margot skipped GCL (though he effectively competed at the level for a couple of months in extended spring training with the rest of the GCL players) and jumped straight to Lowell for 2013, where he was 3 years younger than league average.
 
I'm not sure if the Sox are planning to have Devers play any fall or winter ball, but regardless I think he begins in Lowell next season. If he has another hot start, they'll look to quickly advance him to Greenville.
 

erfus

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mabrowndog said:
 
I'm not saying it's a hard & fast rule, but I can't recall the club making a similar move mid-season with a kid who'd already advanced from DSL to GCL in the same year. The youngest active Spinner is RHP Enfember Martinez, a Venezuelan who turns 19 at month's end. Like Devers this year, he was promoted last season from DSL to GCL before beginning 2014 with Lowell. Then there's OF Manuel Margot, arguably on the same "rising star" level as Devers. After playing all of 2012 in the DSL and turning 18 at season's end, Margot skipped GCL (though he effectively competed at the level for a couple of months in extended spring training with the rest of the GCL players) and jumped straight to Lowell for 2013, where he was 3 years younger than league average.
 
I'm not sure if the Sox are planning to have Devers play any fall or winter ball, but regardless I think he begins in Lowell next season. If he has another hot start, they'll look to quickly advance him to Greenville.
 
The closest is what they did with Wendell Rijo, right?  He's just about a year older than Devers and has been in Greenville all season.  Last season at age 17 he played in 49 games in the GCL and 3 in Lowell.  However, Rijo did not begin the 2013 season in the DSL.
 

Eddie Jurak

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erfus said:
 
The closest is what they did with Wendell Rijo, right?  He's just about a year older than Devers and has been in Greenville all season.  Last season at age 17 he played in 49 games in the GCL and 3 in Lowell.  However, Rijo did not begin the 2013 season in the DSL.
That's what I was thinking about - a cup of coffee in Lowell similar to Rijo's.
 

mabrowndog

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Erfus, I totally brainfarted on Rijo so good call. He stayed with GCL through the end of their regular season (8/29) but left before their playoffs (1 g vs the Yankees, 2 g vs the Nationals). Rijo never actually had to set foot in Lowell, though, as he met the team on the road for their final series in Aberdeen, Maryland. So at least they spared him that culture shock. ;)
 
This year  GCL's final regular-season game is August 28, and they're again on pace to win their division. The Spinners, postseason longshots, finish with home games vs Aberdeen 8/28-30 and a pair at Connecticut (Norwich) on 8/31 & 9/1. So yeah, I could see Devers joining them for what amounts to a long weekend. Point: Jurak.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

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He's in his first real professional slump, posting a 195/233/390 line in his last 10 games. He still has 2 HR and 10 RBI in that span, though. It'll be interesting to see how he responds to his first bout of struggles. His overall line is still 311/371/504, which goes to show you just how incredibly hot he was to start after his promotion.
 

mabrowndog

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Devers went 2-for-5 with a double & walk today, which is nice to see. But it's just his 3rd multi-hit game in his last 19 outings since July 28. He's got a .216/.303/.365/.668 line in 80 PA over that span.
 
Over his last 9 games, he's hitting .200/.263/.257/.520 in 38 PA.
 

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LondonSox said:
Sox have a 3B a SS and a 3b/SS on that list in the top ten. Impressive.
 
I hope all three are in Greenville next year, but it will be hard to manage ABs with these three and Dubon who had a good year at Lowell playing mostly SS.  
 

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The Allented Mr Ripley said:
Tasty quote from Badler's chat about his list -- Devers the equivalent of a Top 5 pick!
 
 
Chris (Baltimore): I'm very surprised to see Devers ranked ahead of Kolek. Where would Devers have ranked if he were eligible for the 2014 draft? Ahead of high school hitters like Jackson and Gordon?
Ben Badler: With the hindsight of knowing how Devers demolished professional pitching in his first year (which obviously you don’t get the benefit of knowing for these other guys), he would have been a top five pick. That said, him ranking ahead of Kolek is also in part based on how Kolek looked after signing.
 

LondonSox

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Really this is the whole thread here? This is as random as Mookie not having an adopt a prospect thread for a year.
 
The Ks (and low BB) are a concern, but minimal for an 18 year old in full season ball and adjusting.
353/ 371/ 518/ 889
 
That's an astonishing average and slugging for his age at that level 
 

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From Fangraphs' McDaniels chat:
 
 


12:37

Comment From John
Any reports on Rafael Devers’ 3B defense at Greenville this year? Do you think he eventually moves to a corner outfield spot?
 
 





12:38

Kiley McDaniel: Just saw him last weekend. Scout comped him to Panda in every sense of the word. Will need to monitor body, but the hands and arm are fine and the first step isn’t bad.