The Boston Red Sox got criticized by most of the baseball world for trading Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants in June.
Devers signed a 10-year, $313.5 million contract extension with the Red Sox in 2023, but tensions boiled over behind the scenes regarding Devers' position and Boston bringing in free agent third baseman Alex Bregman.
Regardless of what position Devers plays in the future, the consensus what that his bat was worth building around and worth the big contract. But this past weekend at Rate Field, the Chicago White Sox showed exactly why Boston felt comfortable moving on from Devers.
White Sox dominate Rafael Devers
In a three-game series against the White Sox over the weekend, Devers was 1-for-11 with eight strikeouts. He was a total non-factor as San Francisco scored a total of five runs in the series.
Devers' eight strikeouts against the White Sox came against seven different pitchers (Dan Altavilla got him twice). It didn't matter who was on the mound, he was getting dominated.
The struggles for Devers continued after leaving Chicago. He went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.
At Rate Field for Devers
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) June 30, 2025
1 for 21 with 6 walks and 13 strikeouts.
That's one of the best left-handed hitters in the game neutralized by White Sox pitching.
Devers has not been the same hitter in San Francisco
Since joining the Giants via trade, Devers has a .200 batting average and .670 OPS with 21 strikeouts over 50 at-bats.
Devers' wRC+ with San Francisco is 94, which is below league average. His strikeout rate being at 36.2% is the worst of his career by a wide margin. He also has a -0.297 in "Win Probability Added," which means he has been more detrimental to the Giants than anything.
It's a small sample size, but I think we are beginning to see some of the reasons why Boston moved on from Devers in the first place. Outside of the obvious clubhouse issues that he was causing, Devers is a player that must hit at an elite level in order to have value.
When a DH is struggling at the plate, it kills an entire lineup. The Giants are 4-9 in games that Devers has played in this season. The White Sox exposed why over the weekend in Chicago.