With recent August surge, Devers feeling like himself again

SAN FRANCISCO -- The 59-58 Giants’ magnetic pull toward .500 shows no signs of abating.

Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Nationals, like so many games this year, ended with an underperforming offense that fell a couple of clutch hits shy of tying or going ahead. That’s a poor recipe for win streaks.

This has frustrated the players and fans, who still wait for two or three mainstays to get hot at once, which has rarely occurred in 2025. For the fans, frustration had turned to concern -- bordering on panic -- regarding one key hitter: Three-time All-Star Rafael Devers.

However, after a disappointing first month and a half in San Francisco, concern for Devers has begun to give way to relief -- and perhaps even excitement -- now that the infielder seems to have turned a corner. After slashing a paltry .219/.327/.365 (.692 OPS) with 50 strikeouts over his first 162 Giants plate appearances, his numbers have flipped along with the calendar turning to August.

After reaching base all four times on Saturday, with a single, a homer and two walks, Devers is slashing .321/.486/.679 (1.165 OPS) with a double and three homers in 37 August plate appearances. He has homered in consecutive games for the first time since May 17-18, while still with the Red Sox.

Devers’ improvement in swing selection offers a visible clue to deciphering his turnaround. He has eight walks against nine strikeouts this month. Compare that to 22 walks and 50 strikeouts from when he joined the Giants to the end of July.

Devers took four two-strike balls that easily could have been called strikes, one of them coming in the sixth inning before hitting his 22nd long ball of the year -- the Giants’ only run in six innings against Nationals starter Brad Lord.

Manager Bob Melvin sees a clear difference.

“He’s taking more balanced swings, a little more fluid,” Melvin said. “We’ve seen him off-balance. I think when you’re trying to do too much and swing too hard, that happens. He doesn’t have to. When he touches the ball, it’s going to go.”

If Devers has another secret to his improvement, he would not share it with reporters after Saturday’s game.

“I think that I’ve been doing the same thing that I’ve been doing all year,” he said through translator Erwin Higueros. “Just making sure that I take advantage of all my at-bats. I don’t think it’s necessary for me to change anything. I’m just being the type of player that I am, and things are just beginning to work out for me.”

Devers has had a lot thrown at him since the Red Sox dealt him to the Giants on June 15. How many players are asked to join a new team in a different league across the country, learn how to play first base on the fly in front of tens of thousands of people every game, and adjust to hitting in a ballpark that has broken the will of many a left-handed power hitter?

Devers looks more comfortable at first base every time Melvin throws him out there, a testament to how hard the 28-year-old has worked before each game. Devers starts his routine with a first-base lesson, takes his batting practice, then returns for more work at first.

“Whether it’s picks in the dirt, whether it’s turns at second, you try to create as many plays he hasn’t seen, and he’s working through all of them,” Melvin said. “You can see him more and more comfortable every day.”

Devers also seems to be coming to grips with what he needs to do at Oracle Park to beat the elements -- and that 24-foot-high right-field wall -- to slug. As he has done throughout his career, Devers is starting to use the middle and left side of the field more. Both of his homers this weekend have been to center field.

But Devers can’t get the Giants to escape from .500 purgatory alone.

After his single helped the Giants load the bases with one out in the eighth, they cut their deficit to 4-2 on Wilmer Flores’ pinch-hit sacrifice fly, but lefty Jose A. Ferrer struck out a struggling Matt Chapman to strand the potential tying runs.

The Giants put two more runners on in the ninth, only for Patrick Bailey to ground into a game-ending double play.