Red Sox, Rafael Devers Aware Of Struggles Preventing Expected Surge

Boston Red Sox fans are waiting on Rafael Devers’ annual summertime surge.

In fact, they’ve been waiting on it, as the Red Sox’s franchise star has made a habit of going on insane hot streaks once the calendar turns to June the weather warms up a bit. The warning signs are just usually a bit more apparent than they have been in 2023, as the 26-year-old has undergone clear struggles in one specific aspect at the plate — something that opens everything up for him and the lineup.

Devers isn’t walking.

The third baseman drew his first walk in 64 plate appearances in Wednesday’s loss to the Cincinnati Reds, finally breaking through with an impressive 10-pitch walk in the bottom of the seventh inning. In a season where he’s on pace to only walk 34 times, which would be the lowest total of any full season in his career, the Red Sox are seeing Devers’ number slip everywhere outside of the power department.

He’s slugging the ball, though, so who cares? Well, Red Sox manager Alex Cora does.

“Raffy hasn’t walked in months,” Cora said in a somewhat sarcastic tone Tuesday, per Ian Browne of MLB.com.

Devers’ walk came one day after the comment, which could be a coincidence, but the two-time All-Star is plenty aware he has to work on that area of his game.

“I need to obviously control the strike zone,” Devers said, per Browne. “I’m not the kind of hitter who’s going to see a lot of pitches. I’m very aggressive, that’s the kind of baseball player that I am. But I know that I need to take some walks when I need to and I’m working on it. … The past few weeks haven’t been very consistent but I need to make adjustments and that’s what I’ve been trying to do.”

The good news? Devers has clearly gotten the message from Cora, and is entering a month in which he absolutely rakes. The Red Sox slugger has slashed .293/.357/.530 over the course of his 102 career games in June, belting 20 home runs and collecting 74 RBIs over that stretch. Those numbers improve almost across the board in July, possibly signaling the start of something special for Boston’s best hitter?

The Red Sox surely wouldn’t be mad if it does.