Former Whitecap Traded in Devers Deal Recalled For Character, Talent

BREWSTER – Whitecaps manager Jamie Shevchik judges the players he coaches and their character by determining who are the kids he’ll stay in contact with two, three, four, five, 20 years down the road.

It’s been two years and he’s still in touch with James Tibbs III. Shevchik had been recently texting back and forth with the former Whitecaps player. Tibbs was telling him the 2023 season he spent in Brewster was the best summer of his life.

“I’m so fired up for you guys,” was his message to Shevchik. “I wish I was on the field again in Brewster.”

Later that night, Shevchik saw the news: Tibbs had been traded to the Boston Red Sox. The Brewster Whitecaps MVP and Cape League’s home run derby winner of two years ago was one of the players coming to Boston from the San Francisco Giants for the Sox’s star slugger Rafael Devers, a deal that stunned the baseball world.

“Welcome back to Massachusetts,” another Brewster staff member, pitching coach Brian Del Rosso, said he had texted Tibbs. 

“You’re going to see him in the big leagues one day, and it’s not going to be a surprise for any of us here,” Del Rosso said.

The Giants selected Tibbs, an outfielder from Florida State, 13th overall in the 2024 MLB Draft, one pick after the Red Sox. On the Cape after his sophomore year in 2023, Tibbs hit .303 with six home runs, six doubles and 20 walks. Brewster coaches that worked with Tibbs spoke not just to his baseball ability but his character as a person. 

“Phenomenal human being,” hitting and third base coach Scott Grimes said. “Great player. Just an unbelievable, talented kid, but better human than anything.”

He was a player who showed up all the time and worked harder than everyone else, according to Grimes.

“He’s just one of those kids that you want to go to war for and you wish the best for,” Grimes said.

It was Grimes who pitched to Tibbs when he won the home run derby at Whitehouse Field in Harwich that year. Tibbs was also a Cape League All-Star. As a junior in the collegiate season the season after the Cape League, Tibbs was named ACC Player of the Year.

“It’s one of the better experiences I’ve had as a player, coach, all of it, just getting a chance to watch him do what he does,” Grimes said.

He had been playing in Single-A as a minor leaguer in the Giants organization before being part of the four-player swap for Devers. The Red Sox assigned him to Double-A Portland after the trade, which was first announced June 15.

Shevchik’s scouting report: Tibbs is the “real deal.”

“There’s a reason why he was drafted where he was drafted,” Shevchik said. “He’s got the tools. He’s a great outfielder. He’s got the left-handed swing. He’s got the power. He’s got the contact tool. Doesn’t strike out a lot. He’s got everything that you’re looking for in a draft pick.”

That summer on the Cape, Tibbs dealt with injuries but stuck it out in a situation where most players would have shut it down, according to Del Rosso. He was the player pitchers worried about, the guy circled in lineup cards as the one to pitch around and be careful with, he said. 

“Great human,” Del Rosso said. “One of the best human beings I’ve been around.”

Shevchik said Tibbs’ biggest goal wasn’t the numbers, all-star game or home run derby; it was winning a Cape League championship for Brewster.

“He was tired,” Shevchik said. “He was beat. He was run down at the end of the year, and he stayed to win a championship, and that’s rare.”