Boston Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers has started the 2025 season on a historically bad note.
Devers has been the Red Sox’s most potent hitter over the last several years. The 28-year-old third baseman has garnered AL MVP votes each of the last four seasons, averaging 31.5 home runs and 96 RBIs.
However, Devers has been anything but effective with his bat to start the new campaign. Over the Red Sox’s first three games, Devers has gone a ghastly 0/12 at the plate. Even worse, the Dominican has struck out 10 times during that span, which is the most in MLB history over any team’s first three games of the season.
Boston Red Sox DH Rafael Devers just set a major-league record by striking out 10 times in the first three games of the season.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 30, 2025
With Devers struggling mightily, Boston has started the year 1-2.
A poor three-game stretch does not mean much in a 162-game season. Top hitters, even MVP-caliber ones like Devers, have rough patches here and there.
But it’s still not a great omen for Devers to perform as poorly as he has following a tension-filled offseason with the Red Sox’s brain trust.
Earlier this week, Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced the decision to move Devers to the DH spot after Devers had spent his entire career as the team’s starting third baseman. Devers vehemently opposed the move but to no avail.
Whether it’s a random slump or a subtle show of frustration from Devers, the early returns on the DH experiment have not looked promising for Boston.
