Giants Make Rafael Devers First Base Decision Ahead Of Red Sox Showdown

It wasn't a series highlighted on the calendar at the beginning of the season, but it's now the showdown all of Major League Baseball is talking about.

The Boston Red Sox have arrived in the City by the Bay for the weekend to take on the San Francisco Giants. Long-time Boston star Rafael Devers, who played for the Red Sox organization from 2014 until Sunday, just completed his first series after he was traded to the Giants.

It's sure to be an emotionally charged weekend for both sides. But there's also a subplot: Will Devers, who publicly refused to play first base in Boston this season, see his first career action at the position against his former team?

Devers has taken ground balls at first before each of his first three games in San Francisco. But according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive, the expectation is that he'll DH, as he has in all 76 of his games this season, throughout the weekend. Dominic Smith, a member of the 2024 Red Sox, will likely continue his starts at first base for the Giants.

"San Francisco has Smith (.838 OPS) admirably manning the position with both Wilmer Flores (who started Tuesday) and Casey Schmitt able to fill in," Cotillo wrote. "The expectation is that it will take Devers a while to get comfortable at the position and that he’ll serve as the Giants’ designated hitter, like he did in three games against Cleveland, from Friday to Sunday."

Devers played 951 games at third base for the Red Sox through the years. Everything started going sideways in the relationship between player and team when Boston moved him off that position, but when first baseman Triston Casas went down for the season, Devers' refusal to try filling in was the final straw with the organization.

Cotillo also shared that Devers and the Red Sox are believed to be staying in the same San Francisco hotel for the weekend while the slugger gets settled into his new city.

First pitch from Oracle Park on Friday night is at 10:15 p.m. EST. Hunter Dobbins will be the first Red Sox pitcher in major league history to throw a pitch to Rafael Devers.