Giants' Rafael Devers makes surprising admission on played defense after run as designated hitter with Red Sox

Rafael Devers had a glove on Tuesday as he made his debut at first base during the San Francisco Giants' second encounter of a three-game series with the Atlanta Braves Playing defense was largely a surprise considering Devers was adamant about his desire to exclusively handle designated hitter duties when he was with his prior association the Boston Red Sox But Devers' comments after the match were perhaps even more surprising CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COMDevers explained he genuinely prefers playing defense over exclusively picking up a bat during MLB games It keeps me functioning It keeps my head out of just thinking about the next at-bat Devers explained according to the San Francisco Chronicle I d rather be on the field than in the cage hitting all the time and thinking about the next at-bat SURPRISED BY THE BREWERS HOW A BUNCH OF 'AVERAGE JOES' ARE AMONG MLB'S BESTRafael Devers had a tense spring training During the exhibition period Red Sox manager Alex Cora and Devers appeared to be at odds about whether he would spend time on the baseball diamond covering third base Shortly before Opening Day Cora verified Devers would handle the team's designated hitter duties on a full-time basis However when Boston's primary first baseman Triston Casas suffered a serious injury it prompted another proposal from the Red Sox brass Former Red Sox pitcher and the franchise's current chief baseball officer Craig Breslow brought up the idea of Devers covering first base in the future the New York Post published in May However the three-time MLB All-Star reportedly shut down the idea During his residents rebuttal of the expected position change Devers cited the Red Sox' previous instructions related to him using his glove I know I m a ballplayer but at the same time they can t expect me to play every single position out there Devers disclosed via a translator the Boston Globe announced in May In spring training they talked to me and basically recounted me to put away my glove that I wasn't going to play any other position but DH Devers had two base hits during his first base debut with San Francisco The Giants ultimately celebrated a - accomplishment over the Braves on Tuesday The Giants also won Wednesday's challenge against Atlanta to win the three-game series Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter