MIAMI — Once again, Rafael Devers is stirring up drama.
This time, the Giants first baseman, who refused to play the position with the Red Sox, again tried to stand in the way of what his manager thought was best for the team.
Manager Tony Vitello, for what it’s worth, chalked this incident up to Devers’ competitiveness.
“I don’t have any problem with Rafi,” Vitello said, adding that he didn’t feel the need to speak to Devers about the incident because “we talk every day.”
“He probably wants to win as much as anyone in that clubhouse. He wants to stay in the game. We’ve talked during this road trip about how he feels [physically], and obviously part of how he feels is he’s 100% good to go running-wise.”
Even at full speed, though, Devers wouldn’t have given the Giants a better chance at tying the game than the speedy Jonah Cox. He walked to lead off the ninth inning of the 2-1 loss that completed a sweep by the Marlins. Representing the tying run, it was only common sense to pinch-run for the player whose sprint speed (26.2 feet per second) is the slowest on the team.
But Devers wasn’t having it.
Standing on first, Devers wagged his index finger back and forth as if to wave off the move. When Cox came out of the dugout, Devers attempted — to no avail — to shoo him away.
Instead, after some protest, it was Devers who ultimately returned to the dugout, where he veered to avoid a pat on the back from bench coach Jayce Tingler and stormed in a huff directly back to the clubhouse. He declined an interview request through a team PR official.
“Once we announce the move, the move was made,” Vitello said. “Just going with our best effort to win the game. Obviously you’d like Jonah to go get a bag. [Miami’s closer Lake Bachar] is relatively quick to the plate. But on a double, going with our best chance to be able to score.”
Third baseman Matt Chapman agreed that it was the right move.
“There’s a reason why Tony made the move,” Chapman said. “It’s just a heat-of-the-moment thing [with Devers]. Rafi wants to play and wants to win.”
The Giants haven’t done much winning this season and took their third loss in a row after Jung Hoo Lee flew out and Willy Adames grounded into a game-ending double play.
The losing streak comes on the heels of San Francisco’s fifth three-game winning streak of the season. But the Giants have yet to win a fourth in a row and fell 15 games below .500, matching a season worst.
“It’s frustrating,” Chapman said, “because it seems as soon as we have some momentum, it’s a couple steps forward and a couple steps back.”
Say what you will about Devers and his performance on a $313.5 million contract, he doesn’t like to take days off or, apparently, come out of a game. He played 163 games last season, a rarity made possible by his midseason trade from the Red Sox.
Vitello compared Devers to Logan Webb, the Giants’ workhorse ace, in that regard.
“I’d rather have guys like Webby that you have to rip them off the field,” Vitello said, “as opposed to vice versa.”
But Devers has a history of diva-adjacent behavior. It is, in part, what brought an end to his time in Boston, where he signed a 10-year extension only a year before being offloaded to San Francisco.
In Boston, manager Alex Cora asked Devers to play first base after their starter, Triston Casas, went down with a season-ending injury. Devers had been the Red Sox’s third baseman before they signed Alex Bregman that winter and then became their designated hitter.
The Red Sox never got their way in that situation; this time, Devers had no say except to express his displeasure with his dramatic reaction to the move.
“You know how competitive he is,” Vitello said. “He wanted to stay in the game.”
