He was hot for a while, then injuries forced the face of the franchise to become a grinder…and a leader.
2024 In One Sentence
Devers reached some offensive milestones, took over some franchise records, improved on defense…and shattered Gerrit Cole.
The Positives
It’s easy to start with some objectively great accomplishments. We’ll start with offense, since Devers is an offense-first kind of player. Devers recorded his 1,000th career hit this season. He not only hit his 200th home run, he became the youngest Red Sox player to do so (beating out the first love of my life, Jim Rice). He broke another Red Sox record by homering in six consecutive games. Devers was named to his third All-Star Game but didn’t play due to a nagging shoulder injury (more on that in a minute). He led the Red Sox in RBIs with 83. His line was .272/.354/.516 with 28 homers and .871 OPS.
By many measures, including testimonials from the likes of Trevor Story and Alex Cora, Raffy became the clubhouse leader people have been wanting—and waiting—to see. Notably, he played hurt for most of the season—but he played.
He set the tone for everyone to follow. Even if you’re banged up, you can still play and kind of set the tone that way. So I’m super proud of him. And happy to be his teammate. —Trevor Story
Although he played hurt, and both shoulders needed MRIs in September, let’s count it as a positive that he didn’t need surgery.
Besides walking the walk, he talked the talk. Even back in spring training, he boldly criticized ownership’s “full throttle” offseason, saying that, “Everybody knows what we need. You know what we need and they know what we need. It’s just there’s some things that I can’t say out loud.” He was uniquely positioned to make that critique and he made it; that’s leadership. FSG didn’t exactly pay attention (see: trade deadline) but it was important that it was said.
He improved his WAR just a bit in 2024; it was 3.7 this season, compared to 3.5 in 2023.
There are some positives on defense too. I remember a particularly slick play on May 20 against the Rays, when Devers was smartly covering second while Ceddanne Rafaela handled a grounder to short in a shift. Devers wheeled and closed out the inning with a perfectly placed throw to first. I’m not sure I would have been able to write that last year. He also slightly improved in Outs Above Average, according to Baseball Savant; it was -6 (yes, yes, that’s negative six; we’re going to talk about this more in a minute) this year, which was an improvement over -9 in 2023.
Toward the end of August, Dave O’Brien noted Devers’ improved defense and credited it to his study of Nolan Arenado’s footwork. And his defense did improve: he committed 12 errors this season, down from 19 in 2023, and better than his total every year of his career—including the short 2020 season, and his debut half-season. Nice job there.
On the truly gleeful side (I almost led with this), there was Raffy’s ongoing, absolute, and utter dominance of Gerrit Cole. This dominance rose to even greater heights this season because according to Stathead, Devers improved every one of his offensive stats against Cole in 2024.
Stathead
The embodiment of this lopsided competition had to be the September 14 game when Cole issued an intentional walk to Devers, who promptly stole second, then scored on the next play. And this in the middle of Raffy’s worst slump ever! The Yankees were in a hole by the end of the inning and lost the game, 7-1. MLB Tonight offered an entertaining take on Cole’s choice, which was an off-the-cuff decision that didn’t involve his catcher. Absolutely delicious, all the way around.
Also, “Rafael Devers.” Hahahahahah. The questioner didn’t even have time to get the whole question out before Cole leaned into the microphone with the answer. (The question almost doesn’t matter because the punchline is the entire sum, but it was “What Latin hitter gave you or gives you the most trouble getting out?”)
So that was fun.
The Negatives
As discussed, Raffy suffered some injuries this year, and that was hard to watch sometimes. Close to the beginning of the season, he and Tyler O’Neill collided in a truly frightening moment, and Devers suffered through a vicious cold streak at the plate in September. That was due to the continued shoulder inflammation and eventually led to his early exit on the season on September 21. He hit only five home runs after the All-Star Game, and just one extra base hit in all of September.
Defensively, there were negatives too. Despite the improvement noted above (and I do count it as a huge improvement), Devers led AL third basemen again in errors for the seventh consecutive year. His 12 errors went along with a .960 fielding percentage. I have to mention his rather low (by high-paid, face-of-the-franchise standards) WAR again here. Though I did say that it climbed slightly, it was in typical Devers territory, that is…under 4. This is something that we’ve accepted from him but it ain’t great.
Best Moment
Raffy had some good ones this season, which I’ve already mentioned…and I already talked about Gerrit Cole, so how about his hardest-hit home run. This is the one that came screaming off the bat at 114.7 MPH, traveled 439 feet, and broke a seat in the right-field stands. That’s the stuff legends are made of.
The Big Question
Will Raffy stay at the hot corner, or will some mega-deal have him move over to first base, possibly in order to make room for a better defender and/or a hot right-handed bat?
A smaller big question is whether he can continue to build on his defensive efforts this season. I’d love to see him maintain that momentum.
2025 And Beyond
Raffy will no doubt remain the face of the franchise and anchor much of the offense. Since there’s nothing structurally wrong with his shoulders, I believe we can count on improved health next season. He’s taken on the responsibilities of leadership and I think that will continue. With fingers crossed that Story will be back on the field full-time next season, I can see Raffy very comfortably setting the tone in the clubhouse with him. Watch out, Gerrit Cole.