Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox
2018 fWAR: 1.0
2019 fWAR (so far): 1.9
The Red Sox were dominant from start to finish last year, but Devers wasn’t a consistent part of said domination. Although Boston has struggled much more than expected in the early going, the 22-year-old third baseman has picked up his production in a big way.
Through 235 plate appearances, he’s slashing .325/.385/.505. That’s led to a rise in wRC+ from 90 to 132 and a decrease in strikeout rate from 24.7% to 15.7%. This is the kind of step forward any hitting coach loves to see.
Devers has actually seen his fly-ball rate decrease 10 percentage points, with all of that going to his line-drive rate. After posting a 15.2% clip in that category last year, it’s all the way up to 25.7% currently. That helps explain his .367 BABIP heading into Thursday’s games, which is a huge increase from 2018’s .281 mark.
His line-drive rate is basically up against every pitch he’s faced, too. Among the six offerings he’s seen at least 60 times in 2019, Devers owns a line-drive rate above 25.0% against all but one (slider — 18.2%). This includes a 34.5% clip against four-seamers, which is a sizable jump from the 23.2% rate he posted last year.
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