Red Sox’ Rafael Devers recognized in AL MVP voting

Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers finished tied for 17th in 2023 American League MVP voting, as was revealed by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on MLB Network earlier Thursday evening.

Devers received one ninth-place vote from Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com for a total of two points. The 27-year-old slugger was one of 23 players to net at least one vote and finished in a four-way tie for 17th place with the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh, the Rays’ Isaac Paredes, and the Twins’ Sonny Gray.

Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani, who is now a free agent, won the award unanimously for the second time in three years. Rangers teammates Corey Seager and Marcus Semien finished second and third, respectively. In the National League, former Red Sox star Mookie Betts and Dodgers teammate Freddie Freeman were the runners-up behind the Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr., who also won unanimously as a result of receiving all 30 first-place votes.

Devers, meanwhile, netted at least one MVP vote for the third straight season and for the fourth time in the last five years dating back to 2019. Much like reliever Chris Martin the AL Cy Young race, Devers was the lone Red Sox player to receive a vote on Thursday. That puts an end to an eight-year run (2015-2022) in which Boston had two or more representatives on the ballot.

By his own admission, the 2023 campaign can be described as “just average” for Devers. Still, the left-handed hitter paced the Red Sox lineup by batting .271/.351/.500 with 34 doubles, a team-high 33 home runs, 100 RBIs, and 90 runs scored, five stolen bases, 62 walks, and 126 strikeouts over 153 games (656 plate appearances) en route to winning his second career Silver Slugger Award.

Among qualified hitters in the American League this past season, Devers ranked 16th in hits (157), 10th in extra-base hits (67), tied for eighth in total bases (290), 15th in doubles, tied for fourth in homers and runs driven in, tied for 13th in runs scored, 17th in batting average, 13th in on-base percentage, seventh in slugging percentage and OPS (.851), and 10th in isolated power (.229), per MLB.com’s leaderboards.

According to Baseball Savant, Devers finished in the 98th percentile among all big-leaguers in hard-hit rate (55.1 percent) this year. He also ranked in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage (.536), the 95th percentile in average exit velocity (93.1 mph), the 94th percentile in expected weighted on-base average (.380), the 87th percentile in expected batting average (.280), and the 84th percentile in barrel rate (12.7 percent).

While Devers was among the best when it came to making loud contact in 2023, his defense at the hot corner lagged far behind. In the process of logging 1,293 innings at third base, the 6-foot, 235-pounder committed a team-leading 19 errors in 370 chances. He accrued -9 defensive runs saved and was worth -9 outs above average, but it does not appear as though the Red Sox will have him move off the position anytime soon.

Now a veteran of seven major-league seasons, Devers has come a long way since signing with the Red Sox for $1.5 million as an international free agent coming out of the Dominican Republic a little more than a decade ago. The two-time All-Star, of course, inked a 10-year, $313.5 million contract extension in January that will go into effect in 2024.