Giants' Star Slugger Rafael Devers Set to Make First Career Start at First Base

San Francisco Giants star slugger Rafael Devers will finally make his long-awaited debut at first base.

Jul 12, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants designated hitter Rafael Devers (16) during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oracle Park. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The long-awaited debut of San Francisco Giants' star slugger Rafael Devers at first base is finally over, as NBC Sports Bay Area's Alex Pavlovic announced via X that the team plans to start the recent addition at first for Tuesday night's game against the Atlanta Braves.

This will mark the first time in Devers' nine-year career that he will play the position after spending the majority of his time at the hot corner with the Boston Red Sox.

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The three-time All-Star had famously told the Red Sox that he would not play first for them after they made their move this past offseason for former Houston Astros' star Alex Bregman, but appeared to shift his stance on the move upon being traded to the Giants.

San Francisco had been using Devers as their DH since acquiring him back on June 15th, but had also stated that the plan was to switch Devers over to first once he felt comfortable playing the position.

With the team currently in the midst of a six-game skid, it appears that manager Bob Melvin feels that now is the time to finally make the move.

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Rafael Devers is starting at first base tonight. Wilmer Flores will be the DH. It’s the first career start at 1B for Devers.

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) July 22, 2025

Melvin will now switch Wilmer Flores into the DH slot after he had been the team's primary first baseman up until this point.

Only time will tell if Devers' transition over to first will pan out in the way the Giants hope it will, but the team has been pressing very hard for the slugger to make the move since he arrived.

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As such, it will be very interesting to see how he adjusts to the new position over the coming weeks, and what effect that will in turn have on the team as a whole.

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