Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers set a franchise record when he homered for the sixth straight game on Monday night, smashing a two-run blast in the Red Sox's 5-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Devers' teammates are amazed at his dominance, and pitcher Tanner Houck—who got the win on Monday—had a perfect reaction after the game.
“He's a freak,” Houck said, via ESPN. “A guy that can hit any pitch at any time, and to see what he's done, I mean, he's just an incredible player.”
Devers is the first major-league player to homer in six consecutive contests since Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout did back in 2022. He went 1-for-4 on the night overall.
In spite of Devers' brilliance, however, Boston is just 24-24 and sits eight-and-a-half games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East.
Rafael Devers' power surge has not coincided with Red Sox wins
The Red Sox have gone just 2-4 over their last six games and had actually lost the first four games of Devers' home run streak. You would think that a power surge from Boston's best hitter would result in a whole lot of wins, but that simply has not been the case.
It's strange, too, considering the Red Sox's offense has been solid as a whole, ranking eighth in the majors in OPS. Their pitching has also been terrific, too, as Boston is currently second in the big leagues in ERA.
The Red Sox's Baseball Reference page has their Pythagorean win-loss record at 28-20, so there may be some bad luck going on here. Perhaps Boston will start stringing together some wins, or maybe it will just be one of those years for the Red Sox.
Regardless, Devers is slashing .284/.380/.567 with 10 homers and 23 RBI on the season overall. Oddly enough, he was actually in a home run drought before going on this recent tear, as he went seven straight games without leaving the yard and had homered just once in 17 games prior to the streak.
Historically, Devers has always been a terrific power hitter, as he has registered over 30 long balls three times in his career. He most recently did it last season, when he racked up 33 homers while hitting to the tune of an .851 OPS.
The 27-year-old originally signed with the Red Sox as an international free agent back in 2013.
He made his major-league debut in 2017, slashing .284/.338/.482 with 10 homers and 30 RBI across 240 plate appearances. Then, after a fairly rough 2018, Devers broke out in his third season, posting a slash line of .311/.361/.555 with 32 home runs, a league-leading 54 doubles and 115 RBI.
Devers proceeded to make back-to-back All-Star appearances in 2021 and 2022, knocking a career-high 38 dingers in the former campaign.
The Dominican native isn't much of a fielder, as he has logged a negative UZR at third base in all but one of his MLB seasons, but he is certainly a fantastic slugger and boasts a lifetime slash line of .281/.345/.512.
The Red Sox will battle the Rays in the second game of their three-game set in Tampa on Tuesday night.
