The Boston Red Sox have a young superstar on their hands in Rafael Devers.
At just 25 years old, he has already played in five seasons at the MLB level, and it seems like the sky is the limit for him.
In the 2021 season, Devers put together one of the best seasons of his career so far.
It didn’t go unnoticed, as he earned an All-Star selection, Silver Slugger honors, and finished 11th in the AL MVP race.
But was it the best year of his career so far?
Let’s take a look.
There’s 1 Other Season That Belongs In The Discussion
As good as Devers’ 2021 season was, his 2019 campaign belongs in the conversation.
Let’s compare those seasons of his.
In 2019, he batted .311 with an OPS of .916 and OPS+ of 132.
He smacked 32 home runs, 54 doubles, and two triples.
His 54 doubles led the league.
The youngster also led the league in total bases, as he racked up an impressive 359 mark in that category.
He finished the season with a bWAR of 5.4, which helped him get noticed in the AL MVP race.
He wound up finishing 12th in voting.
Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers becomes 1st MLB player in 2019 to reach 100 RBIs. 🔥
(🎥: @MLB)pic.twitter.com/jDYnIJgtgX
— theScore (@theScore) August 18, 2019
Now let’s take a look at his 2021 season.
This time around, Devers slashed .279/.352/.538 over 156 games, giving him an OPS of .890.
He also registered an OPS+ of 132, which is an identical mark to the one he posted in 2019.
He homered 38 times, doubled, 37 times, and tripled once.
RAFAEL DEVERS WITH THE 452 FOOT BOMB pic.twitter.com/lNSqwhPdnK
— Around The Diamond (@_AroundDiamond) April 8, 2021
But here’s where things get interesting: He finished the year with a bWAR of 3.5.
That’s a fine mark, but it’s a far cry from the 5.4 bWAR he earned in 2019.
It had a lot to do with his defense, which was statistically better in 2019 than it was in 2021.
WAR isn’t everything, but it’s a really good data point.
And when you’re looking at a difference of almost two full wins (or in other words, a difference of almost 2.0 WAR), that’s worth a lot.
In Devers’ case, the bWAR statistic thinks he was worth roughly two more wins in 2019 than he was in 2021.
That’s too big of a gap to overlook, so our verdict is that the 2021 season was actually not the best year of his career so far.
It was still a great showing for him, however, and it’ll be exciting to see where he goes from here.
What’s Next For Devers?
Devers has already accomplished a lot, including winning the 2018 World Series title.
He’d surely love to win another with Boston, but the thing is, his time in a Red Sox uniform might not last much longer.
Devers is only under club control for two more seasons.
Although Red Sox fans have been begging the organization to ink the young star to an extension, no deal has been reached.
Give Devers A Contract Extension pic.twitter.com/H6pUqyfMru
— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) July 24, 2021
Shortly before MLB entered a lockout, a report surfaced that offered a concerning update on contract talks between Devers and the Red Sox.
“The Red Sox and third baseman Rafael Devers have made zero progress on a long-term contract extension since the end of the season, a source familiar with the situation said Monday,” wrote Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com.
Only time will tell what Devers’ future holds.
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