Red Sox Superstar Expresses Dislike For Clubhouse Label: 'I Feel Offended'

Boston's All-Star isn't happy with his new identity

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Despite the Boston Red Sox slipping out of playoff contention, Rafael Devers has a lot to be happy about this season.

Devers was selected to his third All-Star game in July and more recently hit his 200th career home run amid what has been another excellent statistical year.

All is well within Devers’s baseball world, but there is one thing that’s been bothering him, and it pertains to how he’s viewed by his Red Sox teammates.

In a sit-down interview this week with ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Devers revealed that he doesn’t like being called a “veteran” in the clubhouse.

“I think the time has gone really fast, really fast. But thanks to God, he allowed me to play eight seasons, and I want to keep playing more … Sometimes they call me a veteran … I feel offended and said, “No, I am still too young to be called a veteran. I am only 27 years old; I am still young.”

While Devers was half-joking, he has a point. 27 is considered young in virtually every scenario outside of professional sports, where it’s considered prime-aged (but not old). At the same time, Devers is undeniably a veteran of Major League Baseball by any metric, having now spent eight seasons in the bigs.

Whether or not Devers wants to be considered a veteran, he is one, and more importantly, must embrace his role as a veteran leader inside of a Red Sox clubhouse teeming with youth. 

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