Rafael Devers Needs To Work On His Bat Flips
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- As stupid as John Farrell looked for leaving Rafael Devers out of the Red Sox lineup for Game 2 against lefty Dallas Kuechel, Astros manager A.J. Hinch managed to make himself look even dumber. Somebody tell these guys that the dynamic rookie batted .400 with a 1.074 OPS in 50 at-bats against lefties in the regular season.
Hinch and Francisco Liriano found that out the hard way on Sunday, as the Astros southpaw let up a two-run home run to Devers that put the Red Sox up 4-3 and helped spearhead the six-run surge that followed it over the course of the game.
The home run was a beautiful moment for the 20-year-old wunderkind. His attempt at a bat flip, however, was not so pretty:
Perhaps he thought in the moment that he shouldn't "disrespect" his opponents or the game of baseball by pulling a Jose Bautista? Or maybe the flip just didn't go as well as it did when he rehearsed it in BP. Doesn't really matter. Kid's adorable.
Hopefully Devers can launch another one in Game 4 on Monday, if only to get another chance to show his best form. It's a great sign for the Red Sox' future that his hitting (and even his fielding) is way ahead of his bat-flipping right now. Just needs to go back to the film and analyze what went wrong, so the next flip can just pinwheel straight into the dugout.
Matt Dolloff is a writer/producer for CBSBostonSports.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, CBS, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
