There is a lot of drama surrounding Rafael Devers and the SF Giants right now with some claiming Devers blew off franchise legend Will Clark. It mostly seems overblown, but let's try to wade through all of the drama to find the truth in all of this.
This all started late in June when it was reported that Clark was going to work with Devers at first base to try and get him up to speed at the position since Devers has never played at first as a big leaguer.
SF Giants drama with Rafael Devers and Will Clark has been blown out of proportion
We never really heard any more about it after that, but just in the last few days Boston Red Sox announcer Will Flemming, the brother of Giants broadcaster Dave Flemming, claimed that Devers stood Clark up in three consecutive games when the Red Sox were in town.
Clark shared his side of the story recently as well. He confirmed that he was supposed to go over some of the basics of playing first base with Devers in warmups, but Devers did not come out on the field for warmups in those games.
Clark believes it was because Devers did not want to deal with the awkwardness of taking ground balls at first base right by Boston's dugout especially after he publicly refused to play first base while he was with Boston.
We have yet to hear Devers' side of the story. It is important to note that he has been nursing a groin injury and a back injury which has delayed his debut at first base, or any fielding position since he has exclusively been the team's designated hitter since joining the team.
Perhaps there is some truth to Devers not wanting to deal with the media reaction to him willingly taking on a new position after refusing to do the same with Boston. But it can also be true he did not want to injure himself further which also provided a bit of a helpful cover.
Nonetheless, it seems this whole saga has gotten blown out of proportion. It is clear that there are still hurt feelings in Boston over Devers' messy exit. Even David Ortiz has been vocally critical in calling out Devers.
All Giants fans will really care about is whether Devers can be a great hitter in orange and black. He has not had the best start so far, but if he can replicate the numbers he put up while in Boston then all will be forgiven.