Red Sox-Giants Trade Allows Rafael Devers to Make Weird MLB History on Final Day

Raffy iron man.
The Red Sox traded Rafael Devers to the Giants during the season
The Red Sox traded Rafael Devers to the Giants during the season / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Apparently 162 games wasn't enough for Rafael Devers this year.

Heading into the final day of Major League Baseball's regular season, the former Red Sox star has already played in 162 games on the season. Boston dealt him to the Giants in mid-June, ending his eight-year tenure with the team. San Francisco and Devers's season hasn't went to plan since the trade as the Giants' season will come to a close Sunday after their game with the Rockies as they try to finish the year an even .500.

Devers hasn't missed a game in a Red Sox or Giants uniform this season. Boston's schedule was one game ahead of San Francisco's when the trade went down, which means he will play in his 163rd game of the year Sunday. He becomes the first MLB player to play in 163 games in a year since 2008, according to NBC Sports Bay Area's Alex Pavlovic.

Justin Morneau played in 163 games for the Twins in '08 due to a tiebreaker against the White Sox to decide the AL Central. When the MLB expanded its postseason in '22, tiebreaker games were removed to resolve ties at the regular season, which made the feat all the more rare.

The big trade paved the way for Devers to play in 163 this year, but it could be a long time before we see anyone accomplish the task again.


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Blake Silverman
BLAKE SILVERMAN

Blake Silverman is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.