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Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rafael Devers happiest he's been 'in a long time,' ducks questions about Red Sox past
SAN FRANCISCO — At a pre-game media availability at Oracle Park Friday afternoon, a Rafael Devers press conference more closely resembled congressional testimony from Mark McGwire in 2005. Devers spoke with the media for roughly 15 minutes before facing the team that shockingly unloaded him in shocking five-player deal last Sunday and neatly avoided saying much about his nine-year stay in Boston. Advertisement Any time a question included any reference to the Red Sox, Devers took a page out of McGuire's performance in Washington D.C. two decades ago and spoke a variation on the PED-linked slugger's infamous testimony. Like McGwire, Devers wasn't 'here to talk about the past.' McGwire persistently used that line when questioned by Congress about his use of steroids or others PEDs. Devers acknowledged that while the last week has been hectic, but said he was quickly becoming comfortable with his new team. 'It's been a long time (since I was this happy professionally),' he said. 'I don't know how to explain it, but the feelings that I have I've been happy. I feel very relaxed.' Advertisement The one bit of insight he offered on the topic of the Red Sox came when he was asked if, upon reflection, he would do anything differently during his Red Sox career. 'No, nothing,' said Devers. 'I feel like I put up good numbers over there. I always gave my 100 percent.' Devers said he spent Thursday night getting together with some former Red Sox teammates. The Red Sox arrived Wednesday night to San Francisco and had an off-day Thursday while the Giants had an afternoon context with Cleveland. Devers didn't specify which teammates he saw. 'My friends on the other team (Red Sox),' said Devers. 'It was kind of strange to see them so soon (after the trade).' Advertisement Regardless of the topic, anytime he pressed on his time with the Sox — Did he want to leave? How would he describe his relationship with manager Alex Cora? Could the Red Sox have done anything to repair the fractured relationship? - Devers quickly retreated to his stock reply. 'That's in the past. I really don't want to talk about it. I want to concentrate on what's in the future for me,' said Devers. Only occasionally did Devers not use his stock reply — when asked how he would to Red Sox fans his refusal to play first base in Boston but immediately expressed a willingness to do so for the Giants. 'I would say that I had some good numbers over in Boston,' said Devers, 'and I do think that I have earned some respect. If they would have asked me at the beginning of spring training, I would have played (first base).' Advertisement He also expressed no regrets about how he handled things in the last four or five months in Boston. At one point, Devers seemed to strike a decidedly neutral tone toward former manager Alex Cora, noting, 'I don't have anything good or bad to say about Alex.' But he later said he expected to greet him on the field this weekend. Devers began working out at first on Tuesday, but offered no specific timetable for his debut at the position. 'Whenever I feel comfortable,' he said. More Red Sox coverage Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Red Sox reactions: Offensive breakout leads way to eighth win in last nine games
SAN FRANCISCO — Rapid reactions from the Red Sox' 7-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park Friday night. 1) Prior to Friday night, the Red Sox were 7-1 in their eight previous games, but those had been won mostly behind strong pitching as the Sox failed to score more than four runs in any one of those games. Friday, they yielded five runs, but more than made up for it with their bats. After being blanked in the first two innings, the Red Sox managed to score at least once in each of their next five innings, getting 11 hits across the lineup in a balanced attack. Advertisement 2) Red Sox starter Hunter Dobbins was his own worst enemy. Coming in, he had a walk rate of just 4.5 percent, considerably below the MLB average of 8.6. But Dobbins walked the very first hitter he faced, walked the bases loaded in the second and issued yet another walk in the fifth. In all, three of the runs scored by the Giants were scored by hitters who had reached base via walks. 3) The expectation was that this was going to be a big Revenge Game for Rafael Devers, meeting his former teammate just five days after they traded him to the Giants. Devers has been hailed as a conquering hero by the fan base, which rose to give him a standing ovation in his first at-bat Friday night. In his first plate appearances, he was retired on a chopper to first. Leading off the third, Devers slammed a ball to left-center and for a second, it looked like it had a chance to leave the ballpark. But Ceddanne Rafaela tracked it and leaping into the wall, took extra bases away from his former teammate. After grounding out to short in the fifth, Devers then came to the plate with a runner on against Justin Wilson in the seventh and flied to center field. Finally, in the ninth, in a showdown with Aroldis Chapman, he struck out. 4) In an increasingly crowded outfield picture, playing time could become an issue. Already, there have been calls for Ceddanne Rafaela to move to the infield, paving the way for Roman Anthony to grab an everyday spot. But Rafaela, whose defense is already superb, has been hitting better and supplied three big hits Friday night. In third inning, he ripped a sharp double and came around to score. Then, in the fourth, he singled through the shortstop hole, delivering Wilyer Abreu from third. Finally, with the game tied 5-5 in the sixth, he cranked a pitch to straightaway center for his seventh homer, a solo shot. 5) David Hamilton isn't known for his power. He's the on the roster for his glove and speed, In fact, before Friday's series opener, he hadn't hit a homer since May 13. But in the top of the third, Hamilton got a ball that he could drive and sent it out to right-center, scoring Ceddanne Rafaeala ahead of him. For the time being anyway, Hamilton is going to get a lot of playing time at second, now that Kristian Campbell has been optioned to Worcester. If he can seize the opportunity and produce offense like that, he could make things interesting. Advertisement 6) For a change, the Red Sox got some offense from the bottom of their lineup. Between Rafaela and Hamilton, they got two homers, five hits, three runs scored and four RBI. In this post-Devers Era, where runs are sometimes scarce, the Sox will take contributions from wherever they can get them. 7) Alex Cora had to nearly empty the bullpen when Dobbins supplied just 12 outs. He used six of his eight relievers. But if there were ever a time to do that, it would come after a day off on the schedule, when the bullpen had the benefit of some rest. It didn't hurt that the Sox got a combined five shutout innings from their relievers. 8) Massachusetts native and New England baseball royalty Mike Yastrzemski had a chance to be the hero when he came to the plate with the bases loaded and two down in the eighth and his team trailing by two. Mike Yaz worked the count full against Garrett Whitlock, but swung through a slider below the zone, stranding three. 9) In the middle game of the weekend series Saturday, it will be RHP Brayan Bello (3-1, 3.49 ERA) vs. RHP Landen Roupp (4-5, 3.99) at 4:05 ET. More Red Sox coverage Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fantasy Baseball: Trade from Red Sox could offer Rafael Devers fresh start with Giants despite switch to Oracle Park
I spent most of the weekend with my head buried in fantasy baseball rosters. A key deadline in my longtime keeper league is approaching. A bunch of big deals, many of them today-for-tomorrow swaps, have already gone down. And then MLB took over Sunday night and made a trade that dwarfs all of our make-believe stuff. Advertisement Rafael Devers and the Boston Red Sox hit an awkward part of their marriage this year. Sunday, the Red Sox decided to call off the union entirely. Boston sent Devers to San Francisco in a shocking exchange. Four players came back to Boston: lefty starter Kyle Harrison, right-handed swingman Jordan Hicks, minor-league outfielder James Tibbs and minor-league reliever Jose Bello. It ends a relationship of nearly 12 years between the Red Sox and Devers. The team signed Devers, then 16, as a free agent in August of 2013. He made his debut at the age of 20 and has been a star player, making three All-Star teams (a fourth nod looks imminent) and charting in five different MVP races. Devers has never been better than this year, his age-28 season. He's slashing .272/.401/.504, with 15 home runs and 58 RBI. His 56 walks was leading the American League. Whatever performance metric you prefer is likely a career-best, such as his 152 OPS+ and his 148 wRC+. Advertisement Ironically, the impetus of this trade had nothing to do with Devers the hitter. When the Red Sox signed Alex Bregman in the offseason, it meant Devers was done as a third baseman in Boston, much to the incumbent's chagrin. Devers has been a minus fielder for most of his career. The Red Sox initially told Devers that he'd be the full-time DH, then asked in-season if he'd move to first base after Triston Casas was injured. Devers, still stinging from the offseason demotion, balked at the move. The other key element to this deal is money — Devers signed a 10-year, $313.5 million contract extension prior to the 2024 season. These types of lengthy contracts are usually good bets to age poorly, and perhaps the Red Sox felt it was prudent to move Devers — now without any defensive value — before his bat started to decline. To be clear, those decline years are off in the future somewhere. Devers, we state again, is currently at his offensive peak. Advertisement The current Devers wave could take a mild hit in San Francisco. Fenway Park is the second-friendliest place for scoring over the past three years, per Baseball Savant, while Oracle Park ranks 26th. If you run the metrics for left-handed offense, Fenway is second again, Oracle 27th. Fenway Park actually hurts left-handed power by about 10 percent, but Oracle Park is a 22-percent drag on lefty power. Like many players, Devers has a home bias to his career stats: he's slashed .292/.361/.522 at Fenway, .267/.338/.499 on the road. The second line is probably what San Francisco should expect moving forward, though home/road splits aren't always about dimensions. Sometimes it's nice to sleep in your own bed, eat home cooking, hang out in familiar surroundings. While his slash preferred Fenway, Devers does have more home runs on the road: 120 out of a suitcase, 95 in Boston. [Smarter waivers, better trades, optimized lineups — Yahoo Fantasy Plus unlocks it all] Devers might also miss the Boston undertow on offense — the Red Sox rank fifth in runs scored, the Giants rank 14th. But you'd expect those rankings to move towards each other with the Red Sox losing a major bat and the Giants acquiring one. Hash it all together and I suspect Devers loses just an eyelash of fantasy value through this trade, but it's negligible. And it's also plausible that his new team could provide an emotional boost; Devers no longer has to deal with the stress likely caused from the breakdown of his relationship in Boston. The Giants are also expected to make the playoffs from their current spot (64.8 percent, per Fangraphs) while the Red Sox are a longer shot (30.9 percent). Advertisement The timing of this trade in Boston is curious given the team just swept the Yankees and climbed back into the Wild Card race in the American League. With Devers out of the mix, Boston has more lineup flexibility for young players like Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony, rookies who were likely to be squeezed from the roster when Bregman and Wilyer Abreu return from injuries in the next few weeks. Anthony, Mayer and Kristian Campbell entered the year with glittering minor-league resumes, but all of them have struggled in their first MLB lap. Campbell had a hot first month but cooled quickly; he's currently slashing .225/.324/.351 with six home runs. Mayer has a modest .224/.278/.469 slash but three homers in his 18 games, enough to push his OPS+ to 105, slightly above league average. Anthony had just one hit in 17 at-bats for his first week of action. Boston needs to see the big picture here and let its young talent play, learn, make mistakes. Manager Alex Cora occasionally shields Mayer from left-handed pitching, for example — illogical in the long-term. Allow your high-end talent to grow. Advertisement Boston fetched a modest return in exchange for its superstar, in part because San Francisco is assuming the full Devers contract. But Harrison and Tibbs do offer some prospect pedigree. Harrison was a top-20 prospect on two of the primary clipboards before the 2023 season, and was the consensus No. 31 prospect a year later. His 182.2 innings of MLB work have been underwhelming (4.48 ERA, 1.297 WHIP), though he has averaged just under a strikeout per inning. The Red Sox initially optioned Harrison to Triple-A but that's likely to be a short stay; he's 23 and not far from another shot in the majors. Tibbs might be the key to the trade, a first-round pick from 2024 who's shown power and patience at High-A this year (.246/.379/.478, 12 home runs, 42 walks against 45 strikeouts). He's a left-handed hitter who can man a corner outfield spot or play first base. The Athletic prospect analyst Keith Law ranked Tibbs the second-best prospect in the San Francisco system before the year. Tibbs is 22 and has the look of someone who could rise quickly through the minors.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Braves Season Spiraling After Smoke-Filled Oracle Park and Another Spencer Strider Setback
Braves Season Spiraling After Smoke-Filled Oracle Park and Another Spencer Strider Setback originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Smoke Clears at Oracle Park, but Braves Still Burned by Another Loss SAN FRANCISCO — The fire wasn't on the field, but maybe it should have been. Advertisement Just hours before Sunday's series finale between the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants, smoke poured from a concession stand inside Oracle Park, prompting an emergency evacuation. No injuries were reported, and the game proceeded as scheduled. But for Atlanta, the real blaze might be the one slowly consuming its season. Former Clemson standout and Braves ace Spencer Strider made his fifth start since returning from the injured list. The comeback trail has been anything but smooth. His fastball velocity is down from pre-surgery levels, and his command hasn't returned. His 5.68 ERA tells part of the story, but advanced metrics suggest a pitcher still searching for rhythm, consistency and trust in a body that's been pushed to its limits. Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider (99) delivers a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Oracle Park.© D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images Still, the blame doesn't fall squarely on Strider. The Braves are spiraling. Atlanta has now lost 13 of its last 16 games and six straight overall. The team sits nine games below .500, a stunning turn for a club once expected to contend deep into October. Blowouts, walk-offs, bullpen meltdowns—Atlanta has suffered every kind of setback during a brutal three-week stretch that has tested even its most experienced veterans. Advertisement The fire at Oracle Park was quickly extinguished. The one smoldering inside the Braves clubhouse is harder to contain. There's no firepower in the lineup. The energy is gone. The swagger has vanished. And fans are asking the obvious questions: Where's the urgency? Where's the response? Atlanta needs a spark. That could mean turning to young talent. It could mean a bold trade. It might require a shake-up in the clubhouse or a hard conversation about leadership. But something has to change. Because right now, the Braves are watching their season go up in smoke. Related: Braves Ace Spencer Strider Searching for Answers as Struggles, Team Skid Continue Related: Clemson Product Eli White Carves Out Key Platoon Role in Braves' Outfield Related: CBS Sports Analyst Has Serious Questions About This National Title Contender This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Calls Mount for Punishment After Dangerous Incident During Braves-Giants
Calls Mount for Punishment After Dangerous Incident During Braves-Giants originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The San Francisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves game was interrupted Friday after a dangerous incident involving a fan during the fourth inning. Advertisement The Giants ultimately took the 5-4 win in extra innings thanks to a walk-off wild pitch by Atlanta, but that wasn't the lowlight of the night, at least judging by social media. In the top of the fourth inning with San Francisco leading 3-0, a sacrifice fly to right field plated Atlanta's first run after an unsuccessful throw to the plate from Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski. During which, a second baseball could be seen landing on the field from high above, just feet away from striking home plate umpire Andy Fletcher, who was in position to make a call. Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna Jr (20) slides safely into home against San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Edwards-Imagn Images "Where did the other ball come from?" asked the Giants play-by-play broadcaster. Advertisement "It came from the upper deck," his on-air partner responded as the Oracle Park home crowd began booing loudly. "Some clown threw the baseball on to the field." A post by Jomboy Media on Saturday suggested that this situation may have stemmed from a question a fan recently posed on the "SFGiants" Reddit. It reads, "Help me settle an ongoing debate I've had for years: Can the average male throw a ball from the view reserve seats (Section 315) all the way down to home plate?" Notably, a follow-up thread titled "Alright, which one of ya knuckleheads put this to the test?" emerged before Friday's game ended. Speaking to reporters after the game, Giants infielder infielder Tyler Fitzgerald called the act "dangerous," while manager Bob Melvin added it was "extremely odd," according to NBC Sports Bay Area. Advertisement Fans on social media were quick to call for punishment to be handed down on the person responsible for the throw. "I hope they found the idiot and he is jailed tonight then banned for life," a fan commented on X. "Lifetime ban," another echoed. "I have never seen that before in a baseball game," a fan wrote. "Whoever threw that ball from the stands onto the field during the play like that in the Giants Braves game is straight up going to jail. That was insanely dangerous." "ban him for life," someone else said. "if you do this, you should be banned across the MLB," argued another fan. "A FAN IN THE GIANTS BRAVES GAME JUST THREW A BALL AT HOME FROM THE STANDS DURING A PLAY AT THE PLATE," another posted on X, garnering over 2.9 million views. Advertisement Game two of the three-game series between the Giants and Braves is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET on Saturday at Oracle Park. Related: Braves Announce Trade With Orioles After Craig Kimbrel News Related: Mariners Make Logan Gilbert Announcement After Velocity Dip This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
