MLB Notebook: Rafael Devers’ Fenway return comes full circle; Ketel Marte saga gets stranger; Red Sox' Franklin Arias skyrockets

The Red Sox welcomed Rafael Devers and the Giants to Fenway Park on Friday night, marking the first time Devers had played in Boston since his stunning trade to San Francisco last summer.

The 29-year-old said before the game that he has no regrets about how his Red Sox tenure ended. He’s happy in San Francisco, though he acknowledged he has learned plenty over the past year.

“I don’t want to think about the past,” he said through a team interpreter. “I don’t want to talk about the past. But at the same time, we’re all men, we’re all grown-ups. We have to understand this is the business of baseball, but at the same time, you make mistakes, and you have to move on and mature.”

“I feel really good; I think I have matured during the year,” he added. “I think that I have learned. As an athlete, there’s things that are going to happen, and what you have to do is move forward and learn from that.”

Devers batted second for the Giants and was greeted by a smattering of boos in his first trip to the plate. The reception warmed considerably after the inning when the Red Sox played a tribute video honoring his time in Boston. Devers stepped to the dugout railing, waved to the crowd and received a round of applause.

In his second plate appearance, Devers reminded everyone that he's still a dangerous bat in any lineup. 

Devers walked in his second plate appearance before crushing his 26th homer of the season, a solo shot to center in the fourth that pulled San Francisco within a run. It was his only hit of the night as Boston went on to win, 6-4.

For all the ugliness surrounding his departure, Devers accomplished plenty in a Red Sox uniform. He spent nine seasons in Boston, made five All-Star teams and was part of the 2018 World Series championship club.

But his relationship with the organization deteriorated during his final months in Boston.

After the Red Sox signed Alex Bregman, Devers was moved off third base and told he would become the everyday designated hitter. The situation became even messier when Triston Casas suffered a season-ending knee injury, and the club asked Devers to begin taking ground balls at first base. Devers declined, and by Father’s Day, he was headed to San Francisco in a five-player trade.

Devers has since become a first baseman, appearing in 117 games at the position since joining the Giants, including 89 this season, and owns minus-1 Outs Above Average there. Devers once posted 18 OAA at third base for Boston in 2019, but never finished better than minus-2 in any of his other seasons at the position.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, have dealt with their own revolving door on the right side of the infield. They finally appear to have some stability at first with Willson Contreras, who has not only become Boston's biggest power threat but has played the position at a Gold Glove-caliber level.

Third base belongs to Caleb Durbin after Bregman walked to Wrigley Field in free agency this offseason. 

In some ways, the Devers saga already feels like it happened much longer than a year ago. The roster around him has changed dramatically. Durbin is the everyday third baseman, Contreras has become a centerpiece of the lineup, and Devers is playing first base on the other side of the country.

Even Devers' future in San Francisco isn't necessarily certain after the Giants reportedly explored the possibility of moving him at the trade deadline.

Players come and go in Boston, even ones who once appeared destined to spend their entire careers here. How the Devers era ended will probably remain a point of contention for years. Some fans believe Devers quit on the organization. Others place the blame on ownership and the front office for how poorly the situation was communicated and handled after the Bregman signing.

Both sides can debate that breakup forever, like the Mookie Betts trade five years earlier. 

On Friday, Devers got his tribute, heard some boos and some cheers, then hit a home run in the ballpark he once called home. And when the night was over, he went back to the visitors' clubhouse, and the Red Sox secured the win. 

Ketel Marte Saga Gets Stranger

The strange situation surrounding Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte took another turn Friday night.

According to Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro, Marte spent roughly four hours at a local casino while the Diamondbacks were hosting the Reds at Chase Field. Photos of Marte at the casino also circulated on social media.

Marte is currently on the 10-day injured list with left knee inflammation and had worked out earlier Friday at Arizona’s Salt River Fields complex. Manager Torey Lovullo said before the game he remained hopeful Marte’s IL stint would be close to the minimum.

What Marte does away from the ballpark while injured normally wouldn’t generate this much attention. But this comes just days after his absence from Fenway Park.

Marte was expected to be in Arizona’s lineup Monday against the Red Sox but never showed up to the ballpark. The Diamondbacks didn’t submit their lineup until shortly before first pitch as the club scrambled to adjust.

He was initially placed on the restricted list before his agent said Marte was dealing with both a personal matter and a knee injury that required an MRI. He was subsequently transferred to the injured list.

Marte met with Diamondbacks leadership Thursday in an attempt to clear the air. Lovullo later acknowledged that a lack of communication helped turn the situation into something much bigger.

“Probably a little misunderstanding and a lot of frustration on Ketel’s part,” Lovullo said. “He wasn’t feeling great with his knee. Admittedly handled it wrong.”

Lovullo was also unusually candid about how Marte’s disappearance affected him personally.

“Once I saw what was unfolding, I became extremely frustrated,” Lovullo said. “I felt betrayed. That’s a whole different type of pain and frustration.”

That frustration apparently extended into the clubhouse.

Reliever Kevin Ginkel, Marte’s teammate since 2019, publicly expressed disappointment over how the situation unfolded and said players wanted an explanation.

“For us to go where we want to go, we’ve got to have him here,” Ginkel said. “It’s disappointing how the things that happened happened. There’s really no explanation for it.”

Then came Friday night’s casino appearance, another strange development in what has already been a bizarre week.

Lovullo, however, wasn’t interested in making it another controversy. Because Marte had completed his work and been released by the medical staff for the day, the manager said what Marte did afterward was his business.

“He’s free to do whatever he wants,” Lovullo said. “As long as he wakes up [Saturday] morning and posts, and gets his work done at Salt River — which I am certain he will — that’s all that matters to me right now.”

The Diamondbacks may be ready to move forward, but the optics are difficult to ignore. Within the span of a week, one of their biggest stars no-showed a road game without adequately communicating with the club, drew public criticism from a longtime teammate and then surfaced at a casino while his team was playing at home.

For a Diamondbacks club trying to remain in the playoff race, it’s become an unwanted distraction at exactly the wrong time.

Dodgers Not for Sale Amid Questions Surrounding Ownership

Despite recent moves involving controlling owner Mark Walter’s other sports investments, the Dodgers aren’t going anywhere.

Team president Stan Kasten met with reporters Friday and emphatically shut down speculation that ownership could explore a sale.

“They’re not going to be sold,” Kasten said to reporters. “They’re not for sale. There’s no process that has been started to sell it, period. We are planning only to win. That is what we are always doing. And we are still continuing to do that.”

Questions surrounding the Dodgers’ future have surfaced after Walter sold his majority stake in the Lakers last week at a $12.5 billion franchise valuation. Walter and Dodgers minority owner Todd Boehly are also reportedly open to selling their minority stakes in English Premier League club Chelsea.

The timing has generated additional attention because some of Walter’s insurance businesses are under federal scrutiny over whether certain investments and loans were properly reported to regulators. No charges have been filed, and Walter’s TWG Global has denied wrongdoing while saying it is cooperating with investigators.

Kasten also dismissed the idea that Walter’s other business dealings could eventually force Los Angeles to pull back financially, saying, “The Dodgers stand on their own pretty well.”

That’s quite the statement considering how aggressively they continue to spend.

Los Angeles carried an MLB-high $417 million competitive balance tax payroll in 2025 and paid $169.4 million in luxury-tax penalties. Their estimated CBT payroll has climbed to approximately $428 million this season, nearly $60 million higher than any other club, putting them on track for another enormous tax bill.

One interesting wrinkle, if anything ever did change at the ownership level, involves Shohei Ohtani. His 10-year contract includes a clause allowing him to opt out after any season in which either Walter or president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman leaves the organization.

For now, Kasten couldn’t have been much clearer: whatever is happening elsewhere in Walter’s business empire, the Dodgers are not for sale.

Kade Anderson Makes MLB Debut

One of baseball’s top young pitching prospects made his highly anticipated Major League debut Saturday night.

The Mariners handed the ball to left-hander Kade Anderson, just over 13 months after selecting him with the No. 3 overall pick in the MLB Draft.

Anderson, Seattle’s No. 1 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 5 overall prospect, showed plenty of the stuff and polish that made his rapid rise through the minors possible. The former LSU standout worked 5 2/3 impressive innings before his night ended abruptly when he surrendered home runs on each of his final two pitches.

Before that, Anderson looked comfortable on a Major League mound.

His swing-and-miss stuff showed up immediately. In the first inning, Anderson won an eight-pitch battle against fellow LSU product Alex Bregman, finishing him with a changeup for one of the more memorable strikeouts of his debut.

The Mariners believe Anderson can help immediately as they push for a playoff spot. Seattle entered his debut just three games out of first place in the American League West.

And Anderson certainly earned the opportunity.

He was arguably the most dominant pitcher in the minors before his promotion. Among qualified minor league pitchers with at least 80 innings, Anderson led the minors with a 1.06 ERA, 10.38 strikeout-to-walk ratio, 40.5% strikeout rate, .147 opponents’ batting average, .399 opponents’ OPS and 0.64 WHIP. His 3.9% walk rate also ranked fifth.

Franklin Arias Continues Meteoric Rise

Franklin Arias continues to establish himself as one of the best prospects in baseball.

ESPN updated its Top 100 prospect rankings, and the Red Sox shortstop has climbed all the way to No. 2 overall, continuing a remarkable rise over the course of the season.

Arias entered the year ranked No. 36 on Kiley McDaniel’s preseason list before jumping to No. 6 in his May update. Now, he’s knocking on the door of the top spot.

“Arias is having a huge breakout season,” McDaniel wrote, noting that the biggest development has been the additional power Arias has unlocked without significantly compromising one of the best attributes of his game.

Arias has added considerable raw power and more loft to his swing this season while sacrificing only a little of his contact ability. That combination has helped transform his offensive profile and answered one of the biggest questions surrounding his long-term upside.

The 20-year-old was already viewed as an advanced hitter because of his bat-to-ball skills. The emergence of legitimate power has elevated him into another tier of prospect.

Catch of the Year?

Will Turner submitted his entry for the catch of the year in the Minor Leagues on Saturday night.

The Red Sox prospect made a spectacular home run robbery for Double-A Portland at Delta Dental Park at Hadlock Field. In the third inning, Reading’s Raider Tello drove a ball deep to center that appeared destined to leave the yard.

The 23-year-old raced back to the warning track, scaled the center-field wall and clung to the top of it before reaching over to take a home run away from Tello.

The Spider-Man-like grab was reminiscent of the spectacular play Denzel Clarke made for the Athletics last season, when he climbed the wall to rob Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel on June 9, 2025.

“I got a really good jump on it and I knew that I was gonna have a chance at it," Turner said to reporters. "As I was kind of going towards the wall, I was like, ‘OK, this is gonna carry a little bit, but it's not gonna go out by that much.’ I kind of took my eye off of the ball and looked at the wall just to make sure that my foot was in the right spot. I turned back and the ball’s right where I thought it was gonna be and just brought it down.”

Around the League

The injuries continue to pile up for the Yankees, with Giancarlo Stanton appearing likely to miss the remainder of the season. 

Stanton suffered what manager Aaron Boone described as a “moderate grade” strain of his left calf after going down while running the bases this week. The injury came as Stanton was nearing the end of his rehab from a right calf strain, with baserunning viewed as one of the final hurdles before a potential return.

It’s the latest setback in a frustrating season for Stanton. His original injury occurred April 24 in Houston when he felt a pop in his right calf while jogging between first and second. The Yankees initially believed the injury was minor before an MRI revealed a low-grade strain.

The Yankees could also be without Ryan Weathers after the left-hander exited Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays with left forearm discomfort. Weathers departed following a pitch in the fourth inning and was sent for imaging, with the club awaiting results.

There is at least some help on the way. Cody Bellinger is expected to be activated from the injured list Sunday.

Max Fried, meanwhile, remains sidelined with a bruised left elbow.

The Dodgers’ seemingly never-ending injury issues continued Friday night with Andy Pages becoming the latest key player to go down.

Pages suffered a fractured left hand after being hit by a 100.2 mph sinker from Pirates right-hander Bubba Chandler in the third inning. The injury costs Los Angeles its starting center fielder as the club heads into the final stretch of the regular season.

The Dodgers responded by recalling speedy outfielder Alek Thomas, who wasted little time contributing.

Thomas collected his first hit with Los Angeles on Saturday and drove home Kyle Tucker with an RBI knock that cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 3-2.

Los Angeles acquired Thomas from Arizona for Jose Requena on May 12, giving the organization an experienced depth option in the outfield. Thomas had since performed well at Triple-A Oklahoma City, posting an .855 OPS before getting the call.

Now, with Pages sidelined, Thomas could have an opportunity to take on a much larger role for a Dodgers club once again being forced to test its depth.

J.J. Bleday made some Reds history Saturday night, becoming just the 11th player in franchise history to hit for the cycle, according to ESPN Research.

Bleday is the first Cincinnati player to accomplish the feat since Elly De La Cruz did it on June 23, 2023, against the Braves.

Considering the Reds’ history dates all the way back to 1883, it’s a pretty exclusive club. Over the past 100 years, only five Cincinnati players have hit for the cycle: Bleday, De La Cruz, Eric Davis (1989), Frank Robinson (1959) and Harry Craft (1940).