6 years agoBoston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers did not fulfill the promise in his sophomore season that many expected after a successful 2017 rookie campaign with 10 homers and a .284 average in 58 games. In what some considered a disappointing 2018 season, Devers still hit 21 homers and a .240 average in 450 at-bats. His poor second half suppressed his overall numbers and can be attributed to a BABIP that dropped to .231 in August and .225 in September as well as a ground-ball rate that ballooned to 51.3%. Additionally, his OPS dropped from .819 in 57 games of 2017 to .731 in 2018. Devers does have recent postseason success though, which might force some to draft him earlier than expected. During the 2018 postseason, he hit a homer and had nine RBI with a .294 AVG in 11 games. Devers’ overall 2018 performance is not overly concerning as he accomplished it at the age of 21, while most of his peers were still in Triple-A, at best. Devers should perform in 2019 more in line with his 2017 season, assuming he can maintain the third base job despite below average defense and can truly benefit from his offseason conditioning program. There is still more to be had from Devers at the plate. He is currently the 19th ranked third baseman and can easily outperform an ADP (147) that has him in the 12th round.--Ellis Canady - RotoBaller