Red Sox vs Giants Pick: Boston Faces Devers After Big Trade (Jun 20)

• Our Red Sox vs Giants pick analyzes the BoSox facing former star Rafael Devers days after trading him to the City by the Bay
• The BoSox won 2 of 3 from the Mariners in their first post-trade series
• San Francisco was tied with the Dodgers for 1st in the NL West one week ago, but has since hit the skids, even with Devers in the fold
• Hunter Dobbins starts for the Red Sox; Hayden Birdsong goes for the Giants

Boston Is Moving on Without Devers

The blowback from the sudden and unexpected decision to trade Rafael Devers is still settling, but the Red Sox have been getting a lukewarm defense from the media instead of widespread vitriol.

Still, the return on the trade was objectively weak, and the true gauge will not be known until the Red Sox make complementary moves to spend that saved money on the team. They have already made a drastic decision by sending Kristian Campbell to Triple-A months after signing him to an 8-year, $60 million deal.

For the first game of the Giants series, they send Hunter Dobbins to the hill. Dobbins has had a solid rookie campaign so far. In 11 appearances (nine starts), he has tossed 55.1 innings, allowed 55 hits, and 23 earned runs.

His last start was his best of the season, and it was against the arch-rival Yankees. In 6 innings, he gave up 2 hits, no runs, walked 1, and struck out 5.

He has never faced the Giants.

Boston is still without Alex Bregman, nursing a quad strain. He hopes to be back before the All-Star break.

Giants Need to Break Lull

The Giants didn’t have a sudden cold spell in mind when they made this blockbuster trade. However, they are a better team with Devers, and once he’s settled, they should be fine.

Against the Red Sox, they start Hayden Birdsong. The second-year righty has pitched well since moving into the starting rotation toward the end of May. In five starts, he’s tossed 25 innings, allowed 23 hits, and given up 9 earned runs. Birdsong has amassed 26 K’s and walked 9. On a positive note, he’s only surrendered 1 home run.

Birdsong has never faced the Red Sox.

A lack of offense sparked the flurry of moves the Giants have made over the past several weeks, culminating with the trade for Devers. No matter what Devers does, San Francisco is going nowhere unless their big acquisition over the winter, shortstop Willy Adames, starts hitting. He’s still hovering around .200 with an OPS in the low .600s.

Red Sox vs Giants Pick: Devers’ Flair for the Dramatic Shows Itself

On the surface, the teams are evenly matched from the pitching matchup to the struggling offenses. However, for Devers in his first game against his old team, the slugger will show his flair for the dramatic and send a message to Boston as to what they traded away. The Giants will take the first game with Devers as a major contributor, sparking renewed rage in Boston.