Rafael Devers Shared a Classy Moment With Former Teammate Before Intense At-Bat

Rafael Devers has had one wild week.
Rafael Devers faces off against Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman.
Rafael Devers faces off against Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman. / @NESN / X

It’s been quite the week for Rafael Devers.

On Sunday, the Boston Red Sox shocked the baseball world by trading their homegrown, recently paid slugger away to the San Francisco Giants. The move came after an extended rift between Devers and the Red Sox front office over Devers’s disinterest in switching positions.

All through the week, stories leaked of both mismanagement by the Red Sox and discontent from Devers. To cap it all off, the Giants were hosting the Red Sox starting on Friday, meaning the two exes would be running into each other while the breakup was still quite fresh.

Devers had a quiet night in his first game against his former team, going hitless in five at-bats as the Giants lost 7–5.

But it was clear that while there was no love lost between Devers and the Red Sox front office, there was still a mutual respect between Devers and his former teammates.

When Devers stepped up to the plate in the ninth inning to face off against Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman, the two shared a mutual, perfectly-timed nod before the battle began.

Devers would go on to strike out, but he will get another chance to secure a hit against his former team on Saturday afternoon in San Francisco. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET.


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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.