PHILADELPHIA -- Rafael Devers knows he hasn’t performed up to his capabilities this year.
But the three-time All-Star remains confident that it’ll only be a matter of time before he starts to pick it up at the plate and reestablish himself as the impact bat the Giants expected him to be when they made a blockbuster trade for him last June.
“I always stay positive,” Devers said in Spanish on Wednesday. “I’ve always said that I know the type of player that I am. … I know who I am. I know what I have to show.”
The Giants were counting on Devers to carry their lineup in his first full season in San Francisco, but the 29-year-old first baseman has slumped badly out of the gate, batting only .211 with a .548 OPS and two home runs over his first 29 games of the year. His 30.8% strikeout rate would be the highest of his 10-year career, while his 5% walk rate would be his lowest.
Devers’ struggles are a big reason why the Giants’ offense has underwhelmed over the first month of the regular season. San Francisco entered Wednesday's rainout averaging only 3.34 runs per game, the lowest mark in the Majors. The Giants recorded only two hits in a 7-0 defeat to the Phillies on Tuesday night, which was their MLB-high sixth shutout loss in 2026.
Devers has shown moments of frustration throughout the season, most notably snapping a broken bat in half during a game against the Reds on April 15, but he maintained that that hasn’t been the prevailing feeling for him this year.
“Why should I be frustrated?” Devers said. “It’s my job. It’s the only one I know how to do. There are always going to be ups and downs. Those are things that happen throughout everyone’s career.”
One concerning trend for Devers has been his inability to punish fastballs. He’s hitting only .267 with a .467 slugging percentage and a 46.7% strikeout rate against fastballs in the heart of the strike zone this season. His career batting average on those pitches entering the year was .342 with a .664 slugging percentage and a 19.7% K rate.
“That’s always happened with my swing,” Devers said. “I need to make an adjustment. That’s why I’ve been working in the cage every day, to adjust to how they’re pitching to me. Those are just adjustments that you have to make, and it can come during any at-bat. I’m not that worried about it. I’m only worried when we lose a lot of games in a row. If we’re winning, then I think everyone is good.”
Despite the results, Devers said he doesn’t plan to make any changes to his swing anytime soon.
“I always stick with my swing,” Devers said. “You can make an adjustment without changing your swing. There’s no reason to change your swing. If you change your swing, that’s when it gets worse, I think. I’ve never changed my swing.”
The Giants believe they’ve seen some progress from Devers recently, pointing to the opposite-field double he delivered on a sinker from Marlins right-hander Calvin Faucher on Sunday.
“He kind of dropped the bat head to it and was really quick and smoked that ball,” Giants hitting coach Hunter Mense said. “He's had times where he's done it throughout the year. It's just understanding when he's going to get attacked with fastballs, selling out and committing to them. ‘I'm going to hunt one of these fastballs,’ and then not missing them when he does. He's had a full career of being able to do it. He knows what it's like. Sometimes it just doesn't click for you when you want it to click, and it just takes some time to get through it.”
Manager Tony Vitello believes Devers has sometimes had “maybe just a little too much body in the swing,” but he said the Giants aren’t panicking about their star slugger’s slow start to the year.
“I think he knows himself better than anybody,” Vitello said. “I think it's an easy go-to for when you're used to greatness out of somebody or just a very high level of success. Anytime it doesn't happen again, people can overreact. That's not nearly as important as the reaction of the player. Clearly, Rafi has reacted with composure and understanding of what he's capable of. We know that in time it'll come as long as he sticks to who he is.”