The Boston Red Sox have a future American League M.V.P. In their lineup and his name is Rafael Devers. He already is a two-time All-Star in 2021 and 2022 and has also won the Silver Slugger Award in 2021. One thing remains to be checked off his list and that’s the M.V.P. award. I would be shocked if Devers within the next two-three seasons does not win the award. Look for him to have a great and productive season starting at the end of this month.

Rafael Devers signed his contract extension

A lot of question marks surround the 2023 Boston Red Sox with many losses such as shortstop Xander Bogaerts, starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi and Michael Wacha just to name a few names. But one thing is for sure third baseman Rafael Devers will be part of the organization for 10-11 seasons after signing a huge contract during the offseason. Devers, 26, signed a 10 yr, $313.5 million dollar contract back on January 4th. Raffy seemed very excited to be part of the team for the next decade because this was his childhood team growing up that he rooted for. This deal couldn’t have happened to a better person because since entering the league in 2017, Devers has been constantly a great hitter for Boston and doing a lot of damage during the regular season and in the postseason. 

Devers MLB ranks since 2019

Per MLB Network

 Devers AL M.V.P. case for 2023

Raffy will be a favorite to win the American League M.V.P. heading into this season. For the past two seasons, 2021 and 2022 he has averaged over 25 HRs and 85 RBIs, also hitting a combined .287 AVG. and having 160 plus hits each year. Devers has proven since he entered the league that he can hit and has improved on his fielding as well. In his second full season in the majors, he became a World Series Champion under first-year manager Alex Cora only being 21 years old. The track record that he has only been in the majors for five seasons is remarkable. Having been taught by the leaders of the clubhouse, Including one in particular in Bogaerts that’s not here anymore. Look for Devers to be at the top of the M.V.P. voting as the season progress

2023 season expectations for Devers

Devers will continue to have a successful season in the majors as long he will remain healthy. Expect him to have around 30 HRs, and 100 RBIs, while hitting around .290-295 and having around .900 OPS. I do expect Cora to move Raffy throughout the lineup either batting 2nd or 3rd to help kickstart the offense and have the chance for him to drive in runs. He will be a leader on the team coming up this year that will prove his case with the new contract. You can count on Devers being constant with his numbers and making the offense go with also the doubles that he hits. One season ago in 2022, he had 42 doubles the year and he is known to hit many of them. Look for Devers to have a monstrous 2023 campaign in Boston.

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About Author

Ken Matias

Belly Up sports contributor. I also interned at WCVB-5 News station as sports intern. Give me feedback on all my posts and I hope everyone reads them and enjoy's it!!

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