ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Xander Bogaerts would love to sit here and tell you that he was Rafael Devers before Rafael Devers, that his experience of getting called up in the midst of a playoff push four years ago could serve as a road map for everything the Boston Red Sox’s newest 20-year-old hot shot will go through over the next two months.

But Bogaerts knows that isn't true.

“When I came up, I was on the bench. A lot,” Bogaerts said Sunday. "It was good for me. I was 20. It was a good time just being in the big leagues around all these guys."

It's no wonder, then, that Bogaerts seemed surprised when word spread through the clubhouse after a 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels that Devers will join the team Monday in Seattle and be in the lineup at third base on Tuesday night against the Mariners.

Wasn't it less than two weeks ago that Devers was promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket? And wasn't it only a few days prior to that when Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said he was "not counting on Devers" because it would be unfair "to put it on his back that we're counting on him in a pennant race"?

But that was before the Chicago White Sox packaged veteran third baseman Todd Frazier with relievers David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle in a trade with the New York Yankees that got too big and too prospect-rich for the Red Sox. It was before Eduardo Nunez, Asdrubal Cabrera and Jed Lowrie were left as the best available third basemen on the trade market. And it was before the Sox lost six of 11 games coming out of the All-Star break and saw the offense go cold for prolonged stretches.

So, here comes Devers, and fairly or not, it appears the Red Sox are asking him to save the day.

The team will point to Bogaerts and left fielder Andrew Benintendi -- who came up directly from Double-A almost exactly one year ago and in the same city where Devers will make his debut -- and claim they have a good track record of adding top prospects to the roster in the middle of the season. But the reality is there isn’t recent apples-to-apples Red Sox precedent for what Devers will be asked to do.

Bogaerts was the same age as Devers with roughly the same number of minor league at-bats when Boston called him up from Triple-A on Aug. 19, 2013. But with veteran Stephen Drew at shortstop and still-promising Will Middlebrooks at third base, Bogaerts started only 12 of the season's final 35 games.

"I think not playing on a regular basis was a good thing for me," Bogaerts said. "I was able to watch the game, enjoy the game as a bench player. Sometimes I would play if a lefty pitched, or if we had a big lead I would come into the game and get some experience. [Devers] maybe has got to play every day. We'll see what happens. I wish him the best."

Benintendi was two years older than Devers when the Red Sox called him up. And although he zoomed through the minor leagues in only 15 months and got fewer than 500 at-bats, he also came from a major college program at the University of Arkansas and was named the top player in the country. Even so, the Red Sox eased him into the mix, initially starting him only against right-handed pitchers.

"Everybody was pretty much just like, 'Do what you did to get here. Don't change anything. You got here for a reason, so keep doing that,'" Benintendi said. "He'll probably be all jacked up and excited. Just have to slow it down, I guess."

Perhaps the best comparison to Devers is one the Red Sox would rather not discuss. Last September, they called up then-top prospect Yoan Moncada with the intention of taking over at third base. Moncada was 21 then, his game lacking the refinement of Benintendi's. The Red Sox believed he was ready right up until he went 4-for-19 with 12 strikeouts.

"I think the only comparison is the path," Farrell said. "You're talking about individuals that are very different. We wouldn't be at this point if it felt like he wasn't capable of the challenges here."

Although Dombrowski made a point of noting that Devers will bat near the bottom of the order, there's no denying the Red Sox are counting on him to add power to an offense that ranks last in the league with 99 homers. Devers won't be in the lineup Monday night against Mariners lefty James Paxton, but he figures to get the majority of the at-bats at the Red Sox’s position of greatest weakness.

No pressure, kid.

"I guess if you had your ideal scenario, you'd say just let him continue to go out and play third base and continue to play there [in Triple-A]," Dombrowski said. "But the situation, we're in need here and we think he's ready."

The Red Sox can't possibly know that. ESPN's Keith Law ranked Devers third on his midseason list of the top 50 prospects, and an American League scout recently said Devers is "becoming a man" in his approach at the plate compared to last season. Ultimately, though, he has played only nine Triple-A games in which he went 14-for-35 (.400) but also committed four errors.

Dombrowski didn't come to this decision lightly. He sought input from assistant general manager Eddie Romero, farm director Ben Crockett, Triple-A manager Kevin Boles and even sent special-assignment scout Brad Sloan to Pawtucket over the weekend to watch Devers.

"I have been on the phone probably as much on [Devers] as I have been on any player maybe in my career," Dombrowski said. "On a daily basis, just talking to people to see how he's handling it."

Bogaerts' advice: Have confidence in your ability and try to relax. But then, Bogaerts knows that was probably easier for him in 2013 than it will be for Devers now.

"You never know what he can do," Bogaerts said. "I think Benintendi got called up in Seattle, too. Worked out good for him, so let's hope it's the same."

At this point, Devers is the best third-base hope the Red Sox have.