Rafael Devers Praised By Ex-Teammate: ‘Willing To Do Whatever’

Boston Red Sox fans beware: a new, rave review of Rafael Devers is hot off the presses, delivered by a former teammate.

Former San Francisco Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, the grandson of Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, appeared on Foul Territory this week and was asked by host A. J. Pierzynski about his experience sharing a clubhouse with Devers.

Yastrzemski was traded to the Kansas City Royals on July 31, but he spent six weeks as Devers’s teammate (the Giants acquired Devers on June 15).

Yastrzemski had nothing but positive things to say about Devers.

“He was the best, man,” Yastrzemski said. “Awesome teammate, willing to do whatever he had to. I think he just got thrown into a weird circumstance (in Boston) and, you know, I think sometimes as players, you have to stick up for yourself. And I think that’s what he tried to do.”

“And I think the wording of it was delivered poorly because he’s an awesome teammate,” Yastrzemski continued. “He works his tail off, he tries to help everybody. … He’s really smart, and he cares about winning so much, so I don’t understand where all the heat came from.”

Yastrzemski also specified how Devers helped his teammates prepare for pitchers.

“If you’re facing a guy that he’s faced, and you haven’t faced him … (he provides a) full scouting report, where you want to look for the ball, what pitch you want to hit, how he’s gonna pitch you.”

Entering Tuesday, Devers was slashing .231/ .348/ .422/ .770 to go along with eight home runs and 23 RBIs for the Giants so far in 2025 (47 games).

The three-time All-Star had a .279/ .349/ .510/ .859 career slash line with the Red Sox upon being traded. Devers finished in the top 20 in American League MVP voting on five occasions for Boston, including in each of the last four seasons.

Yastrzemski isn’t a complete stranger to MVP attention. In 2020, Yastrzemski finished No. 8 in National League MVP voting in just his second MLB season. Yastrzemski also led the NL in triples that season.

The Red Sox have a 28-19 record since trading Devers (entering Tuesday). On July 31, Boston traded one of the prospects acquired in the Devers deal — James Tibbs III — to the Los Angeles Dodgers along with outfielder Zach Ehrhard for veteran starting pitcher Dustin May.