Rafael Devers disaster night at first base gets Giants fans talking

The San Francisco Giants lost a nail-biter, 2-1, to the first-place New York Mets on Saturday evening. It has been a rough patch for the Giants, now only three games above .500 and fading in the crowded NL Wild Card race. This team still has plenty of time and talent to mount a deep run, but things ought to look better than they do. The Rafael Devers trade has not catapulted San Francisco to the next level of contention like many fans expected.

In their quest to maximize Devers' next eight years in a Giants uniform, San Francisco is attempting to get him back in the field. Third base is occupied by perennial Gold Glove candidate Matt Chapman, but Devers made his third start at first base in Saturday's loss. Devers was never particularly adept at the hot corner. In fact, he was consistently one of the worst defenders in MLB. First base is easier on paper, however, and Devers has made it no secret that he hits better when he's also in the field.

The early returns on Devers at first base are... less than ideal. He will need more than a few games to acclimate to a new position, of course, but Devers has a long way to go before regular starts at first base is a viable game plan for the Giants coaching staff.

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Rafael Devers' bumpy 1B debut has Giants fans on edge

There were plenty of lowlights from Devers' trial by fire on Saturday night. It's hard to be too critical so early in his journey at first base. It's a tricky position with a lot of nuances that Devers is learning on the fly. Still, plays like this won't make fans feel great about what is to come.

Some of it was simple positional awareness. For example, here is Devers charging a squeaker between first base and the pitcher's mound, rather than covering first. The pitcher fielded it — like he's supposed to — and Devers was too late to recover and get a foot on the bag.

"Growing pain" is the right way to describe it. Many of these simple miscues will self-correct over time. And yet, Devers was notoriously bad at third base. Some of this is just who he is. It's tough to spend months in the DH role, only to be thrust into a wholly new position, but Devers' weaknesses in the field are well documented. The Giants can't exactly expect elite defense on the corner.

It wasn't all bad, though. Devers made an incredible scoop in the fourth inning to help get Robbie Ray out of a bases-loaded jam. So... silver linings.

Giants might need to rethink Rafael Devers' defensive future

While Devers at first base does give San Francisco more lineup optionality, it's fair to wonder if San Francisco might be better off with Devers in the DH slot. That was never ideal for a 28-year-old on a $313 million contract, but sometimes you need to make lemons into lemonade. Devers hit well as a DH all season, despite his protestations, and it immediately raises his team's defensive ceiling.

Dominic Smith has a .711 OPS and gives San Francisco far more stability at first base. He's not a game-changing hitter, but he's swinging better than Devers' apparent DH replacement, Wilmer Flores (.698). Flores has never been much of a fielder at first base either, but he's more experienced and steadfast than Devers. The only way to get Devers to that point is a lot of reps, but it's fair to wonder if that is San Francisco's best path forward.