Everything you need to know about the All-Stars
It was Aug. 13, 2017 when a 20-year-old Rafael Devers truly put himself on the radar of baseball fans everywhere. Hitting a home run off a 102.8 mph pitch from then-Yankee lefty Aroldis Chapman took care of that.
It was history. The fastest pitch ever thrown that resulted in a homer against a pitcher who hadn't allowed a home run to lefty hitter since 2011.
Sunday night, Devers decided it was time for another Yankee Stadium reminder of exactly how different he is.
Two more home runs in the Yankees' home ballpark - giving him 16 homers over 57 games at the venue - was everything for the Red Sox' latest win, this one ending as a 3-0 triumph against the New Yorkers.
But it was the panache supplied by the Red Sox' third baseman that truly offered insight into what we are witnessing with this player.
There was the defensive play to close out the eighth inning, storming in on a slow roller from D.J. LeMahieu before barehanding the ball and firing it to first. Certainly, nobody is going to evoke Brooks Robinson comparisons to Devers the fielder, but the play - along with his ability to land on July 8 with just six errors - is something.
And then there was that second home run, the one that left the kind of indelible mark we had experienced with the Chapman homer.
As has been the case in years' past, Devers did something that makes baseball followers scurry for explanations regarding the slugger's physical feats. This time the curiosity came courtesy a seemingly unexplainable ninth-inning homer.
"He loves the spotlight and he’s very quiet about it," Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters. "But you could feel it [from Devers] in the dugout from the get-go. It seems like the stadium was quiet today compared to the last two days, and he kept going, ‘Let’s go guys, we’ve got to keep going. We’ve got to push.’ And then at the end, he just put us on his shoulders and carried us to the ‘W.’"
Then there is the bigger picture as to what Devers has been doing for a Red Sox team that is just three games back of the Yankees in the loss column for the top wild card spot.
For starters, he is having arguably the best all-round season of his career. For reference, here is where Devers has landed on July 8 in previous seasons:
2023: .254 batting average, .822 OPS, 20 homers, 70 RBI.
2022: .327 batting average, .977 OPS, 19 homers, 51 RBI.
2021: .286 batting average, .921 OPS, 21 homers, 71 RBI.
2019: .324 batting average, .923 OPS, 16 homers, 62 RBI.
2018: .246 batting average, .726 OPS, 14 homers, 48 RBI.
This year? Devers is hitting .293 with a .971 OPS, 21 homers and 55 RBI.
What might be now difficult to remember is the narrative through the first month of this season regarding how Devers' existence wasn't going to live up to his contract or his expectations. But then came that moment on May 11 when Washington manager Dave Martinez decided it was a good idea to walk Tyler O'Neill to get to Devers.
Since Devers made Martinez pay that day, he has a 1.024, which trails only Aaron Judge, Yordan Alvarez, Gunnar Henderson and Bryce Harper over that time.
It was the catapult to what is turning out to be perhaps Devers' most memorable season. In the meantime, while we watch all of this play out, the third baseman offered a few more unforgettable instances.