The 2023 season will be different for Rafael Devers. The star third baseman will continue playing with the Boston Red Sox but will have a new infield neighbor after Xander Bogaerts left Boston for the San Diego Padres.
Devers is expected to be a leader for the Red Sox and is looking to build on what Bogaerts left behind, according to Joon Lee of ESPN. Although the 26-year-old admitted he doesn't see himself as a leader right now, he wants to continue the “legacy” that his former Boston star had created over his decade there.
“Everything, I learned from him,” Devers said, via ESPN. “He created the environment here. I just want to keep that alive. He was somebody we all respected and I just want to continue that legacy within the clubhouse.”
Rafael Devers' teammates have noticed the influence Xander Bogaerts has had on Devers. Utility infielder Christian Arroyo that said the Red Sox star is always happy and that he is “not one of those guys where just because he signed a big contract he's going to work harder or less hard now. He's been the same way since I've met him, and I think he's learned a lot of that from [Bogaerts].”
The Red Sox will certainly need Devers to continue his slugging ways but aside from that, they will really need him to be there for teammates to lean on. The team is dealing with a ton of injuries and coming off of a last-place finish in the AL East. Digging out of the basement starts with positivity and Boston needs Devers to be a main source of it.
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