Crazy Rafael Devers Stat Shows Just How Bad New Red Sox DH's 2025 Season Has Been

The Boston Red Sox need more from Rafael Devers, plain and simple.

After his change from third base to designated hitter was the talk of the town during spring training, it's Devers' offense that's created headlines during the season. There was the infamous 0-for-19 slump with 15 strikeouts to begin the season, but things haven't been a whole lot better since.

Devers is currently mired in a 4-for-44 stretch dating back to Apr. 11. He leads the American League with 36 strikeouts, and his .194/.331/.327 slash line certainly isn't indicative of the $27 million salary the Red Sox are paying him.

It's still early in the season, and the 28-year-old Devers still has the talent to turn things around. But it's been a shocking start, and one reporter pointed out a statistic on Friday that truly shows how flummoxing Devers' results have been.

The following comes from Rob Bradford of WEEI, who also wrote a piece about Devers' struggles on Friday:

"According to Baseball Savant, Devers has swung and missed at 44 pitches in what is considered the heart of the strike zone. The next most in all of baseball is Minnesota's Matt Wallner, who has done it 25 times."

"The Red Sox are certainly more equipped to weather Devers' downturns this time around. But the reality is that if they are to get where they want to go, living life among baseball's elite, the familiar presence their DH has always offered needs to return."

Something is very, very wrong if a hitter is consistently swinging and missing at pitches he should be crushing. Major league pitchers are incredible, and on the rare occasion they make a mistake, typically once per at-bat at most, you have to punish them.

Devers is getting his mistake pitches and doing nothing with them. He's also seeing more fastballs than anyone in the majors, so it appears the book is out on what to do against the lefty at the moment. Devers is hitting .167 with 24 strikeouts against four-seamers.

Though the season is by no means a lost cause, Devers has to step up, and soon. The Red Sox still want to win the American League East, but they can't do it if their most productive hitter of the last five years is a walking punchout.