Firm of Bogaerts, Devers a potent left side

The glamour partnership on the left side of any infield was supposed to be on the left coast with the Padres: Fernando Tatis Jr. at short and Manny Machado over there to his right. And Tatis has sure held up his end, with 13 homers and an OPS of 1.069. But Machado has had shoulder problems, which may explain why he is hitting just .228 so far, with only six home runs.

It is why the star combination at those two positions as we move up on a third of the season is being played on the other side of the country at Fenway Park, where Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers are quietly playing their fifth season together.

There is a reason why the Red Sox, who weren’t supposed to do much this season, are tied with the Rays for the most runs in the sport (Tampa Bay has played two more games going into Memorial Day Weekend), have the best team OPS at .767 and have produced the most total bases at 758.

Of course, J.D. Martinez is back to being the power guy in the middle of the order that he was when he first got to Boston. But it is Bogaerts and Devers who continue to be the young guys to watch on a 30-20 Red Sox team that might even be surprising itself so far.

There is no better or more valuable of a shortstop in Major League Baseball than Bogaerts, who has been a crucial presence at Fenway since he broke in at third base at the age of 20 when the Red Sox were on their way to winning the 2013 Word Series. Bogaerts currently has more hits than anybody in the American League, and he carries a batting average of .339.

And then there is Devers. What he does not always give you with his defense -- he does have seven errors this season, but so does Nolan Arenado -- Devers more than makes up for at the plate. He is leading the Majors with 43 RBIs. So the Sox have the most hits from shortstop and the most RBIs from third base. The best part of all of this is that Bogaerts doesn’t turn 29 until October. Devers doesn’t turn 25 until the same month.

The kid they call Raffy was still just 20 when he came up to the Red Sox during the 2017 season. The same age as Bogaerts when he made his arrival in '13. The two of them have been together ever since. There has never been more talent on that side of the field in the history of the Red Sox. One a righty hitter. One a lefty hitter. Both of them line-drive machines.

On Thursday, I asked the great Dennis Eckersley (if you aren’t able to listen to him do Red Sox games on NESN with Dave O’Brien and Jerry Remy you’re missing out on a TV broadcast as entertaining as there is) just how talented he thinks Devers is.

This was Eck’s reply: “Off the charts.”

He really is that talented, with all that power, all that bad speed. Everybody remembers the Sunday night back in August 2017, not so terribly long after Devers had made it to the big leagues. It was the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium, and the Yankees were looking to close out a 2-1 win over the Sox. Aroldis Chapman on the mound, throwing 100 mph, as usual. At that point in the season, Chapman had given up just one home run to a lefty hitter all season.

Chapman threw a fastball to the kid clocked at 102.8 mph. Devers took Chapman out of Yankee Stadium to left-center. It is still the fastest pitch ever hit for a home run in the era when we’ve been tracking such things. More than anything, it was Devers announcing that he was here. He’s still very much here. Over there to Bogaerts’ right.

The last time the Red Sox had a game was on Wednesday night at Fenway, a 9-5 win over the Braves. Devers hit his 14th homer and knocked in three more runs. Bogaerts scored three more runs. It has gone that way a lot for the Red Sox this season. Again: Martinez, coming back from an off year in 2020, is back to being a dangerous presence. Alex Verdugo, whom the Red Sox got as part of the Mookie Betts trade, is hitting .292, with six homers, 20 RBIs and 50 hits.

Verdugo bats second. J.D bats third. And then comes the firm of Bogaerts and Devers. It is hard to believe they have already been together as long as they have. Red Sox fans hope they stay together for a long time.

Here is what Mr. Bogaerts said of Mr. Devers after Devers’ big night against the Braves:

“When he’s locked in, he’s very dangerous. It’s very fun to see. He can put a team on his back for weeks and months. He’s not the type of guy who can do it just for a couple days.”

Lots of reasons why manager Alex Cora’s team is where it is. It starts with the left side of his infield. Guys over there keep getting it right. And looking pretty glam themselves in the process.