Rafael Devers

Career

The Red Sox signed 16-year-old free agent Devers in August 2013. Devers, who ranked sixth overall among the top 50 international prospects, agreed to a $1.5 million deal.  According to an MLB.com report, he was at the time considered by some scouts to be the best left-handed hitter available on the international market.

Devers debuted on May 31, 2014 with the Dominican Summer League Red Sox rookie club. He had a promising start in his first season of professional ball, as he went 14-for-30 for a .467 batting average and slugged .800 in eight games to claim SoxProspects.com Player of the Week honors. In June he continued to show his value leading the DSL Sox with a slash line of .337/.445/.538, three home runs and 21 RBI, walking more times (21) than he struck out (20), while playing in all 28 of the team's games thus far and had reached base in all but one. In addition, his .983 on-base plus slugging statistic was rare for the DSL level, while his .533 slugging average in this period is the highest mark for an everyday player for the Red Sox since at least 2005, which is as far back as online statistics for the DSL go. On July 3, he was promoted to the Gulf Coast League Red Sox of the Rookie Class GCL.

Devers did not miss a beat after his promotion. He hit .372 and slugged .564 in 22 July games for the GCL Red Sox, including seven doubles, two homers, 31 RBI and a huge .438 on-base percentage, to be named SoxProspects.com Player of the Month.

Overall, Devers finished his rookie season with a .322/.404/.506 line, seven home runs, and 57 RBI, while appearing in 70 games across two minor league levels. He posted 36 RBI for the Sox, tying for third in the GCL, and also ranked among the top 10 in batting average (.312). He later contributed with a game-winning homer and three RBI in the playoffs, as the GFL Red Sox claimed their second Championship title. Additionally, he was named to the 2014 GCL Postseason All-Stars team.  It was just the latest part in what was an impressive first season in the Sox system despite his youth. As such, he climbed from No. 13 to No. 5 in MLB.com's latest ranking of Red Sox prospects this season.

Devers joined Low Class A Greenville Drive in 2015, where he kept hitting the ball with authority and gained a selection to the South Atlantic League All-Star Game. Soon after, MLB.com announced that Devers would be member of the World Team roster in the All-Star Futures Game.

Devers was invited by the Boston Red Sox to participate on its 2016 spring training. He then was promoted to High-A Salem Red Sox to start the regular season. At the time, he was rated as the Red Sox's No. 2 prospect and No. 14 overall, according to MLB.com.

Devers started the 2017 season with the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, where he hit .300 with 18 home runs in 77 games. On July 14, Devers was promoted to the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox, where he hit .400 with 2 home runs in 9 games. On July 23, Devers was promoted to the Boston Red Sox. The move made Devers the youngest active MLB player, at 20 years and 274 days old, on the day he was called up. On July 26, Devers collected his first major league hit, a home run off of Andrew Moore of the Seattle Mariners. On Sunday, August 13th, Devers hit a 9th-inning game-tying home run off Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman, that was clocked at 102.8 mph. This was the fastest pitch hit for a home run since 2008, when such a stat was collected by Statcast. On September 6, Devers had a game winning RBI single for the Red Sox.

On September 22, 2017, Devers hit a go-ahead 3-run home run off of Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Sal Romano that lead the Red Sox to a 5-4 victory.