After a prodigious season for Rafael Devers in which he smashed a career-high 38 homers and helped lead the Red Sox to an unlikely appearance in the American League Championship Series, the slugger was named to the All-MLB Second Team at third base on Tuesday.

The All-MLB Team was created in 2019 and recognizes the top players at every position.

• All-time All-MLB Team winners

The First and Second teams are selected by a combination of fan voting and a panel of experts.

This is the first time Devers has been selected since the inception of All-MLB teams. Braves third baseman Austin Riley was the All-MLB selection for the First Team at the hot corner.

For Devers, his age-24 season was a special one. He led the Red Sox in games played (156), homers, RBIs (113), runs (101), hits (165), total bases (318), slugging percentage (.538) and OPS (.890). Devers was the starting third baseman for the AL All-Star team.

"He's a really special person and really special player," said Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom. "He has ability at the plate that is unusual. Just the way he does things is so unique to him, as you see with a lot of great hitters. The fact that he was originally signed here, developed here, having that type of player on the roster is huge."

Devers plays the game with rare joy, constantly smiling and showing emotion with everything that he does. His in-between pitch routine, in which Devers does dramatic deep-breathing exercises, is a hit among fans. Devers often talks to himself between pitches as well as a source of motivation.

With Boston's season on the line in Game No. 162, Devers carried his team to the finish line by belting two homers at Washington, including the go-ahead two-run shot in the top of the ninth. With that win, the Red Sox clinched the No. 1 Wild Card spot and wound up beating the Yankees, 6-2, in the AL Wild Card Game.

Despite playing with a right arm injury in October that left him in obvious pain when he swung and missed, Devers had a strong postseason, slashing .295/.392/.636 with five homers and 12 RBIs.

Devers became the third Red Sox player to hit 100 homers before his 25th birthday, joining Ted Williams and Tony Conigliaro.

In 548 career games, Devers has a slash line of .279/.338/.509 with 112 homers and 367 RBIs.

The Red Sox signed Devers out of the Dominican Republic on Aug. 9, 2013, and it could go down as one of the best international signings in team history.