What Xander Bogaerts Told Rafael Devers Amid Third Baseman’s Slow Start

Rafael Devers is struggling out of the gate.

The Red Sox third baseman still is searching for his first hit of the 2021 Major League Baseball season. After sitting out Boston’s series finale against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, Devers’ bat was silenced in his return to the lineup. The 24-year-old went 0-for-5 in the Red Sox’s 11-2 beatdown of the Rays at Fenway Park on Monday night.

Frustration very well could be starting to build for Devers, but Xander Bogaerts doesn’t want to see his teammate hang his head. Bogaerts after the series opener against Tampa Bay revealed what he told Devers as the 24-year-old works through a slump.

“I told him, ‘Man, listen. When your knocks come, they’re going to come in bunches because that’s the type of player you are. You know how to hit,'” Bogaerts said, as seen on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “It’s not like he forgot how to hit. His last couple of at-bats, he hit the ball well. …We’ll get him where we want him to be and where he wants to be, and then, obviously, we’ll be a much better team.”

Devers will try to get off the schneid Tuesday when the Red Sox and the Rays meet for the middle contest of their three-game set. The divisional matchup can be seen on NESN, with pregame coverage beginning at 6 p.m. ET and first pitch to follow at 7:10 p.m. ET.