2 rebuttals + 1 bonus thought.
1. the Devers leaving wasn’t the only controlled variable leading you to arrive at your stat (which is accurate we won more games after he left.) But opponents, health, locker room cohesion, pitching, other guys progressing etc all play a part.
2. To pose a real threat in Playoffs, with the way games are managed/pitched it augments the value of the home run. So while in the regular season I agree our offense was solid over 162, and that’s also conceding we were awful with RISP. When it comes time for October Baseball, and getting runners across home plate. I’m of the belief that Home runs have such added value then.
RD11 rarely crossed my mind in July-August, but by the time October rolled around everytime the 3-4 spot came to plate I thought “damn I wish Devers were hitting right now”.
Regardless of wins or losses the RS roster was scarier with RD11 in it. And we NEVER got the chance to see this lineup with comfortable RA19, healthy AB2, and content RD11. Strictly conjecture but it could have been awesome.