Biggest Question Facing Giants Down Stretch of the Season Is Rafael Devers

One hot streak from Rafael Devers can thrust the San Francisco Giants right back in the playoff race.

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants struck arguably the most shocking trade of the 2025 MLB season when they acquired Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox.

Rumors had swirled for months that the relationship between the four-time All-Star and Red Sox was deteriorating and a divorce could eventually be coming.

No one expected it to occur in the fashion it did, on a Sunday in mid-June, when the Giants agreed to send left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison, right-handed pitcher Jordan Hicks, outfield prospect James Tibbs III and right-handed pitching prospect Jose Bello to Boston.

San Francisco hoped that Devers would provide the kind of offensive boost their lineup was in desperate need of.

Inconsistency at the plate was holding the team back and wasting some stellar performances from pitchers on the mound.

Adding Devers to the mix alongside Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, Heliot Ramos, Wilmer Flores and Jung Hoo Lee gave the Giants a formidable group capable of producing runs on a consistency basis.

But, just as things go sometimes in baseball, what seemed like a perfect plan didn’t materalize as hoped.

Instead of taking off, the Giants’ offense actually worsened with Devers in the mix.

With the team’s record plummeting back to the .500 mark, including six consecutive losses ahead of the MLB trade deadline, Buster Posey changed course and began selling pieces, not adding for a postseason run.

Rafael Devers can carry Giants offense to new heights

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Relief pitchers Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval were traded to the New York Mets and New York Yankees, Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski was traded to the Kansas City Royals, moving on from three of the longest tenured players on the team.

Alas, selling doesn’t necessarily mean not trying to win games.

The goal remains the same for San Francisco: they want to make the postseason and a player the caliber of Devers is capable of leading them to that.

Is the two-time Silver Slugger Award winner going to go on the kind of hot streak he has in the past to boost the entire lineup to another level?

It is something to certainly keep an eye on because he showed just how impactful he can be during the series against the New York Mets, one of the teams who are in the wild card mix in the National League with.

Devers had a hit in all three games, going 5-for-13 with one double, one home run and four RBI, helping the Giants win the series.

They made it two series victories in a row, taking two of three from the Pittsburgh Pirates to climb back over the .500 mark after their six-game losing streak including sweeps at the hands of both the Mets and Pirates.

Riding a seven-game on-base streak, this could be the start of one of those hot runs Devers is capable of to vault San Francisco back into the playoff picture.