Red Sox Third Basemen Rafael Devers Has His Best Night So Far In Rehab Stint Sunday Night At McCoy Stadium For The Paw Sox

Red Sox third basemen Rafael Devers, who is currently rehabbing his at AAA Pawtucket after suffering a left hamstring strain, played his fifth rehab game Sunday night at McCoy Stadium. On the night, Devers went 2 for 4 at the plate with a single, double, and two ground outs.

Devers played all 9 innings Sunday night for the Paw Sox as well. Defensively there was no problems for him going for balls. But offensively, he looks like he is getting really close to getting his timing down for the major leagues. In all of his at-bats tonight, Devers was able to make solid contact against the Rail Riders pitchers. However this wasn’t the last game for Devers at AAA Pawtucket as he will play 3rd base for the Paw Sox on Monday afternoon when the Paw Sox close out the regular season

How Rafael Devers Looked Sunday Night

Coming into the night on his current rehab stint, Rafael Devers had been 3 for 13 at the plate with 1 home run and 2 RBI’s. That home run came in their contest on Saturday night in Scranton. But that’s when on Sunday night, Devers appeared to get back on track with his timing.

“He had three pretty good at bats. I thought the ground ball to short was pretty well hit (in the 5th inning)” said Paw Sox manager Kevin Boles

“Then he hustled down the line beating out a potential double play ball. Stayed in a rundown between third and home to keep us out of a double play, and caught one popup on defense. So I though overall, he looked pretty good. I liked how he got down the line on the fielder’s choice” Boles added when asked about the night for Rafael Devers.

The first base hit on the night for Rafael Devers came on a 1-0 fastball in the first inning of the game off of Scranton Wilkes-Barre starting pitcher Adonis Rosa. Devers was able to take the fastball back up the middle into center field for the Paw Sox first base hit of the night.

In the 4th inning, Rafael Devers had the second base hit of the night for the Paw Sox. On the seventh pitch that he saw from Rosa, Devers was able to pull a hard hit double down the right field line and he went into second base without any trouble. But earlier in the at-bat, Devers was able to pull a ball about 340 feet foul down the right field line. It is 325 feet to the right field foul pole at McCoy Stadium.

How Close Is Devers To Returning To Major League Baseball

His sharpness level is “getting better” said Boles after the game. Especially since he hasn’t played a ton of baseball game the second half of the season. Devers has been placed on the disabled list three times the second half of the season. One time for left shoulder inflammation. Twice for a left hamstring strain.

“When he first got here, he ended up hitting a fastball to left center that was up in the zone. Then he ended up expanding the zone a little bit too much. Now we’re starting to see him, strike zone’s got better management of it, and he’s swinging the bat well” said Boles.

“His timing is getting down. Still work in progress, but overall, I thought tonight was probably the best night that we’ve seen him. He’s heading in the right direction” he added.

The Paw Sox close out their 2018 season Monday afternoon at McCoy Stadium. That will probably be the last game Rafael Devers plays before being activated off of the disabled list.

But tonight was a big step in the right direction for Rafael Devers. He looked like he was healthy tonight while playing for the Paw Sox. Since he is playing more games down at AAA and everyday, he getting his timing down before he is activated. So you shouldn’t be seeing Devers struggle at the plate once he is activated off of the disabled list because he getting that timing down before that.