Giants Star Rafael Devers Reveals Insight on How He Plans To Overcome Rough Start

There’s still plenty of time for the San Francisco Giants to rejoin the National League playoff race as they enter play on July 3 half a game back from the final wild card slot.

To do so, the Giants need to surmount the issue plaguing them through their entire 2025 MLB campaign: offensive firepower.

That was a problem initially thought to be solved by president of baseball operations Buster Posey in the blockbuster trade for Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox.

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Unfortunately, that impact has yet to translate through Devers’ first 67 plate appearances with San Francisco. He’s slashed .203/.299/.356 with two home runs, three doubles, six RBIs, and 25 strikeouts to eight walks.

Entering play on July 3, Devers has an 88 OPS+. The expectations for his production are closer to his .272/.401/.504 slash line with a 151 OPS+ this season for the Red Sox.

He’s striking out 35.2% of the time compared to 22.8% with Boston, and his walk rate has dropped as well.

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None of this disappointment is lost on Devers, who spoke about the tough adjustment period with John Shea of The San Francisco Standard through his Spanish language interpreter, Erwin Higueros.

It’s tough to assimilate while hitting 12-for-59 in 15 games with a new team that has only won five of them.

Any mental struggles are compounded by physical ones, as Devers is currently nursing a minor groin injury and back issues.

He wasn’t shy to admit that they’ve affected his play at the plate and base running, but he has no plans to sit out as he gives his all to his new team.

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“Yes, it does affect me a little bit when I hit, but that’s not an excuse,” Devers said. “I know that I can make the adjustments.”

A slump to start the 2025 campaign isn’t new to Devers, as he went 0-for-19 with the Red Sox with 15 strikeouts. In the next nine games, he hit .429 in 35 plate appearances with only five strikeouts.

Devers is working on adjustments to lower his strikeout rate, as well as consistency on elevated fastballs, of which he hit one on Wednesday night for an RBI single.

“It’s something I’ve gone through throughout my career,” Devers said. “I know they’ve thrown me high fastballs, and I’ve had that issue. Again, I will make my adjustments.”

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Encouragingly for Giants fans, Devers’ career has been defined by his play in July, with a career .320/380/.620 with a 1.001 OPS and 163 wRC+.

Sometimes things take time to settle in, particularly when mild injuries are a factor.

That’s largely why he hasn’t seen time at third base despite injury pileups, though he has been working on his defense at first base, with Shea reporting that he might see time in the new role as early as their homestand next week.

A healthy Devers in July should bode well for a necessary turnaround in San Francisco’s season.

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