Giants have a huge Rafael Devers problem amid early-season struggles

Giants have a huge Rafael Devers problem amid early-season struggles originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The San Francisco Giants are off to a bad start to the year in 2026. Tony Vitello's team is struggling and sits at 6-12, tied for the worst record in Major League Baseball.

There are plenty of issues with the team, but there is one glaring problem for the Giants that's a serious concern for 2026 and for the long haul.

As @jayhaykid highlighted on Twitter/x, Rafael Devers is a big problem for the Giants. He's struggling a lot this season, and not simply with his .609 OPS. His advanced metrics are also very concerning.

Giants have a big Rafael Devers problem

"Seems likely at this point that the Rafael Devers trade is gonna somehow be a loser for both teams," @jayhaykid shared. "He's gone from 68th to the 33rd percentile in bat speed across 2023-2026. His hard-hit rate is down from 56.1% to 47.8% year-over-year, too. Only about $230M remaining!"

Devers is struggling this season, hitting .229 with a .280 on-base percentage and a .329 slugging percentage, good for a .609 OPS. For someone meant to be a key slugger in the lineup, that isn't close to good enough.

But the advanced metrics, as @jayhaykid shared, are even worse. Baseball Savant has multiple key metrics that are major causes of concern for Devers.

Devers' bat speed in 2023 was 73.4 mph; it's steadily lowered over the last few years and is now at 71.0. He's gone from the 68th percentile to the 36th percentile.

More: Shohei Ohtani deemed more valuable than Aaron Judge in recent ESPN discussion piece