San Francisco Giants slugger Rafael Devers made headlines on Sunday - but not for any reasons he would want.
In San Francisco's 2-1 loss to the Miami Marlins, Devers drew a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth inning to put the tying run on base. The Giants then called upon Jonah Cox to pinch-run for Devers, but in a bizarre turn of events, the 29-year-old tried to "shoo" Cox back to the dugout, not wanting to be pinch-ran for.
Once a pinch-runner is officially announced, the player being substituted for is out of the game, so there was nothing Devers could do. He furiously yelled into his helmet as he walked off the field and into the dugout.
After the game (which ended just two batters later when Willy Adames grounded into a double play), Giants manager Tony Vitello tried to clear things up regarding the Devers incident.
"He was signaling over to us that he's good to run," Vitello said. "We DHed him the first game after the day off, just because of baserunning. There was a little bit of soreness in his leg, but he's good to go. And so part of that, and then part of it too, competitively, is he wants to stay in the game."
Rafael Devers Criticized by Media for Pinch-Running Incident
While Vitello saw no need to have a disciplinary conversation with Devers due to the daily communication between the two and Devers' competitive spirit, the incident has resulted in major criticism from both fans and members of the media.
"Inexcusable. You cannot do what [Devers] did yesterday, it was basically insubordination," MLB insider Ken Rosenthal said on the Foul Territory podcast. "I was amused by the MLB.com headline on this story today, in which it said, 'Giants clear the air after Devers tries to wave off pinch-runner'. There was no clearing of the air. Devers did not comment after the game, another bad look for him."
"It's just not a good look given how [Devers] has been in the media, surrounding trades and from Boston to San Francisco how he's received," former player Josh Harrison said on the same episode of Foul Territory. "That's not a team player. And I'm not saying that Raffy isn't a team player, I haven't played with him, but that right there was a very selfish move. He was just trying to make a point to say that he can do what he wants."
According to Statcast, Devers ranks in only the 22nd percentile for sprint speed at 26.2 mph. In sharp contrast, Cox ranked in the 89th percentile at 28.8 mph, so it certainly made sense for him to enter as a pinch-runner even though Devers' power bat would be out of the game.
It's been a rough two years for Devers, both on and off the field. He was traded to San Francisco in the middle of last season after a messy fallout with the Boston Red Sox, most notably from his frustration of being replaced at third base by Alex Bregman (who is now on the Chicago Cubs). This latest incident did little to alleviate the concerns regarding his clubhouse behavior; at the same time, Devers has also endured a disappointing season at the plate this year by slashing .238/.302/.433 so far, all of which are well below his career averages of .273/.346/.502.
Recently, the Giants have expressed willingness to part with some of their high-priced veterans at the trade deadline, with Devers among them. But with incidents like Sunday's in mind, Devers' optics and value may be at an all-time low.
