Rafael Devers went to the plate 18 times during the Red Sox season-opening series against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas. He walked twice, once with the bases loaded for an RBI. He put four balls in play — all groundouts, three to the first baseman.
The other 12 times, he struck out.
If that seems historically bad to you, you’re right.
The team’s new regular designated hitter, having been moved off third base for Gold Glove acquisition Alex Bregman, was the most pointed disappointment from Boston’s 1-3 start. Devers is the first MLB player to strike out 12 times in the first four games of a season, as his 10 through three games were also a record.
The previous four-game record of 11 was shared by five players, with the Athletics’ Brent Rooker doing it last year. (Rooker, it should be noted, ended up hitting .293 with 39 home runs and finished 10th in AL MVP voting.)
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
“I feel comfortable at the plate. I feel good,” Devers told reporters after he struck out four times in Friday’s 4-1 loss. “I haven’t hit the ball, but I feel very good. It’s only been two games, and I think everything will change.”
The 12 Devers strikeouts also set a Red Sox series record, breaking the 11 by Wil Cordero in a 1997 four-game set against the Yankees at Fenway Park. Cordero did have four hits in that span, including a home run.
There’s been no such production from Devers, who has missed on a staggering 30 of 46 swings according to data from Baseball Savant. He is yet to put a four-seam fastball into play, missing on 13 swings and fouling off three from Rangers starter Jack Leiter on Friday. (All were 98-99 m.p.h.)
This is the fourth time in Devers’s career he’s gone hitless in four straight games, and still short of his 0-for-20 across five from Aug. 27-31, 2022. That one offers a reminder that things can flip quickly: Devers went 6 for 11 the next three days, with four doubles, and hit .311 for the month.
Devers is coming off far from a normal spring. On top of the positional intrigue, he appeared in only five spring training games, slowly working himself in after spending the winter strengthening shoulders which caused him enough discomfort last season that he said he “never felt like myself.”
Rare is the time he’s looked this lost at the plate, however. The timing of the skid, combined with the spring chatter and Devers appearing to be heavier than normal, have the spotlight on manager Alex Cora’s second-highest paid player (after Bregman) extra bright.
“Little by little, you start finding stuff that he’s doing now that are just bad habits or mentality about the approach. We just had a good conversation about that,” Cora told reporters before Sunday’s 3-2 loss. “It’s details that I’ve noticed throughout his career. We can talk about his set-up, we can talk about his hands. But he’s been [adjusting] his hands his whole career — sometimes they’re down, sometimes they’re up, whatever.”
Cora said Devers will be in his lineup Monday afternoon in Baltimore, when the Orioles throw lefthander Cade Povich in their home opener. Devers singled twice off the then-rookie last Sept. 9.
