Rafael Devers is only digging himself a bigger hole with SF Giants amidst slump

Anyone who has watched the SF Giants this year knows that Rafael Devers has been struggling. Whether it’s been at the plate or in the field at first base, he’s had a rough first month of the season. To make matters worse, he’s not been speaking to the media.

As Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic noted in a recent article, Devers has not spoken to reporters since April 8. That’s several weeks now and Devers has declined to speak with the media multiple times in that stretch.

On the one hand, speaking to the media will probably not change things. Him trying to answer why he’s not hitting fastballs right down the middle isn’t going to help anyone. On the other hand, he’s digging himself deeper hole by avoiding the media which creates yet another story.

Devers needs to start hitting in the worst way imaginable

Devers was brought to San Francisco to hit. He’s flashed his power and impressive bat at times, but far too often in his tenure he just hasn’t been the guy he was built up to be from his time with the Boston Red Sox.

After joining the Giants last season he hit .236/.347/.460 with 20 homers and 51 runs batted in. This season he’s hitting .230/.267/.320 with two homers and nine runs batted in. That’s just not good enough for a guy who is supposed to be the main threat in the lineup. 

For fans, it’s frustrating to see Devers whiff so much on pitches he should be doing damage with. So many times this season we’ve seen him strike out and miss pitches right down the middle. He’s struck out 33 times in 100 at-bats. I’m no math major, but something tells me that’s about a third of the time. He’s only walked five times.

It just seems like pitchers aren’t afraid of him. He’s the kind of hitter you should fear throwing a 3-2 fastball to but it seems like pitchers know they can blow him away with it.

Maybe he’s just trying too hard or trying to do too much. Maybe this is the baseball gods making the Giants pay since Pablo Sandoval joined the Red Sox after a great Giants tenure and was a disaster so now Devers has to stink on the Giants to even things out. Whatever it is, he’s got to figure it out soon otherwise the trade for him will look like a disaster. He’s certainly not doing himself any favors by avoiding the media during this slump. 

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