The San Francisco Giants are looking to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, Sep. 9.
The Giants won their first two games, 5-4 and 2-1.
However, San Francisco will have to do so without key slugger Rafael Devers. The Giants announced their lineup ahead of Wednesday’s matchup. Devers is not in it.
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Turner Hill will occupy the designated hitter spot and bat second in the order. Rookie sensation Bryce Eldridge will play first base and bat third.
Tony Vitello Makes Rafael Devers Statement Before Cardinals Game
Giants manager Tony Vitello wanted to give Devers an off day. The slugging first baseman/designated hitter has played every game this season for the Giants.
Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reported: “Tony Vitello said it’s just a rest day for Rafael Devers, who has played in 309 straight games. He’s been playing through various leg things all season and it hasn’t helped that he’s been running the bases multiple times a game recently.”
Devers was on one of the hottest hitting stretches of his career. He won National Player of the Week on Tuesday. The two-time Silver Slugger hit .385 (10-for-26) with six homers, 13 RBI, two doubles, seven walks, eight runs, a 1.154 slugging percentage and a .515 on-base percentage last week.
He becomes the first #SFGiants player to win an award in consecutive seasons since 2013 and 2014!
Devers continued to stay hot in Monday’s 5-4 win over the Cardinals. The first baseman/designated hitter went 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI. He went 0-for-4 in Tuesday’s 2-1 victory.
After an extremely slow start to the season, Devers has 35 home runs, 92 RBIs, and 36 doubles. He is currently slashing .258/.340/.518 for an .858 OPS.
Giants Found Success During Rafael Devers Hot Stretch
The Giants have seemingly called up their entire Triple-A Sacramento Rivercats roster since the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
Only Devers and outfielder Jung Hoo Lee remain constants in the Giants’ current lineup that were also a part of the Opening Day lineup.
But the team has found success over its last 10 games. Devers is a key part of that.
San Francisco is 6-4 over their last 10 games and has won 3 of their last 4 matchups.
However, the team is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs after a disappointing season. The Giants are currently 61-85 (35-36 at home). They own the second-worst record in the National League.
Giants Manager Tony Vitello Addresses Surprising Rafael Devers Lineup Decision