"I don’t think there’s going to be any smiles at all.”
Less than a week after the Red Sox signed off on one of the more shocking trades in recent MLB history by dealing Rafael Devers to the Giants, Boston is set to face their former franchise fixture in San Francisco.
And with a three-game set against the Giants scheduled for Friday through Sunday, two former Red Sox players weighed whether Devers’ former teammates might set a harsh tone against the infielder in their first head-to-head matchup.
During Tuesday’s episode of “Foul Territory,” former Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon and catcher A. J. Pierzynski speculated that there won’t be any love lost when Devers faces off against his former team.
Advertisement:
“I think that they’ve cut the ties and I think all relationships are severed between everyone in that dugout, in the clubhouse and the front office with Raffy Defers,” Papelbon said. “So I don’t think there’s going to be any smiles at all.”
After months of drama in Boston when it came to Devers’ refusal to change positions after getting moved off third base — and his subsequent comments about playing “wherever they want me to play” in San Francisco — Pierzynski wondered aloud if Red Sox pitchers would plunk Devers in one of his first at-bats.
“You think, Pap, maybe one might get away from whoever’s starting for the Red Sox,” Pierzynski asked.
Advertisement:
Papelbon replied that such retaliation is not as prevalent in “today’s game” — a far cry from the type of retribution that was in regular supply a few decades ago.
“Oh, Pedro [Martinez]? Trust me, Pedro, there definitely would have been some action with Pedro,” Pierzynski said.
“They brought me in when we traded Manny [Ramirez],” Papelbon added. “When Manny goes to the White Sox, and they brought me in and [Terry Francona] called for me to drill Manny. It took me, like four pitches to drill him, but I had to drill him.
“So I don’t know if it’s gonna happen or not. Maybe Alex Cora calls on somebody to drill them or not. I don’t know, but I highly doubt it.”
Despite the drama swirling around Devers and the Red Sox over the last few months, it remains to be seen if those hard feelings would actually culminate in a player getting beaned at the plate in the coming days.
