The San Francisco Giants confirmed Sunday that Rafael Devers is heading to the 60-day injured list with a core muscle injury, ending his season with 13 games still on the schedule. He led the club in home runs (37) and RBI (98), finished with an OPS of .865 and a wRC+ of 135 — good enough to rank as the third-best hitter in MLB from May 1 onward.
Devers will see Dr. William Meyers in Philadelphia on Monday the 14th. If surgery is recommended, he goes under the knife the following day. The estimated recovery window is two to three months, with the expectation that he’ll be ready for Spring Training 2027.
He played through it — and was still the best Giant in the lineup
According to the team’s statement, Devers had been managing the injury for much of the season and chose to keep playing through the pain. That context makes the numbers hit differently. From May 1 through his placement on the IL, he posted an OPS of .953 and a wRC+ of 157 — meaning he was 57% more productive than the average MLB hitter during that stretch. Only Pete Crow-Armstrong and Yordan Álvarez, the leading MVP candidates, ranked ahead of him.
He also made franchise history: Devers became the seventh player in Giants history to record 35 home runs and 35 doubles in the same season. At the time of his IL placement, he also led all of MLB with 36 doubles on the year.
A 62-87 team, 21 players injured, $211 million still owed
Tony Vitello’s Giants wrapped up his first full season at 62-87, out of the postseason picture and with 21 players on the injured list. Devers is the most recent — and the most expensive. The club still owes him $211 million over the next seven years. He’s in year three of the $313.5 million deal he originally signed with Boston in 2023 and was acquired by San Francisco in June 2025.
The immediate medical precedent inside the same clubhouse: Matt Chapman suffered a core muscle injury in 2026 and was treated by the same Dr. Meyers. He recovered. The expectation is that Devers follows the same path.
To fill the roster spot, the Giants called up Scott Bandura, a 25-year-old outfielder who hit .320/.407/.488 with 13 home runs across Double-A and Triple-A in 2026. It’s his MLB debut.
What Statcast says: elite contact, season that deserved more light
The underlying numbers tell a clean story. Devers averaged 93 mph exit velocity in 2026 — 96th percentile in MLB, essentially pure elite. His hard-hit rate of 51.6% (94th percentile) means more than half his batted balls left the bat above 95 mph. A barrel rate of 12.5% (82nd percentile) confirms he’s not just hitting it hard — he’s hitting it right. His xwOBA of .342 suggests the quality of his contact ran slightly ahead of what his .258/.340/.525 slash line shows on the surface.
In a healthier season, on a winning team, these numbers get a lot more attention. In San Francisco in 2026, they ended quietly on the IL.
The numbers behind the season
- 633 plate appearances
- 37 home runs, 98 RBI
- AVG: .258 | OPS: .865
- xwOBA: .342
- Exit velocity: 93 mph avg (96th percentile)
- Barrel rate: 12.5% (82nd percentile)
- Hard-hit rate: 51.6% (94th percentile)
- Bat speed: 71.9 mph avg
