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The Red Sox already asked Rafael Devers to change once this year. Now they’re staring down a much bigger decision — and hoping they don’t have to ask him again.
With Triston Casas done for the season thanks to a ruptured left patellar tendon, Boston’s options at first base are thin. Abraham Toro was called up from Triple-A Worcester on Saturday to join the mix with Romy Gonzalez, but it’s clear the front office is still in scramble mode.
“The conversations about longer-term solutions are ongoing,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow tells Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. “We’ll figure out something. We’ve got no choice.”
One potential solution — and a natural one — would be Devers, a power bat and longtime third baseman who’s already made the shift to designated hitter. But so far, Breslow and manager Alex Cora are speaking two different languages on the matter.
Breslow didn’t rule it out entirely, floating a “we’ll see” tone when asked about Devers potentially moving across the diamond. “We’re still trying to figure out what the long-term solution looks like,” he said.
Cora? Not having it.
“It’s not delicate at all,” he said flatly. “He’s the DH.”
Cora made clear that the Red Sox’ spring training discussions with Devers — which resulted in him becoming a full-time DH — weren’t just experiments. “We asked him to do something in spring training. In the beginning, he didn’t agree with it, and now he’s very comfortable doing what he’s doing,” Cora said. “We made a decision. We talked to him. He’s the DH.”
Why Devers at First Might Make Too Much Sense for Red Sox to Ignore
The idea of Devers as a stopgap first baseman isn’t some internet fever dream. Scouts have said for months that he might be a better defensive option than Casas at first. But Boston never tested it. They didn’t even broach the idea with Devers. Instead, they let him settle in as a DH — and he’s done just that.
Craig Breslow said “all options are on the table” for first base, and he did not rule out Rafael Devers playing the position (via @ChrisCotillo).
No plans for Mayer or Anthony to play 1B.
After a brutal 0-for-19 start to the season where he struck out 15 times, Devers has torched opposing pitchers since April. Over his last 30 games, he’s slashing .298/.406/.526 with five homers and 16 extra-base hits.
“His swing decisions have been in a phenomenal spot,” said Red Sox hitting coach Pete Fatse. “He’s managing the strike zone and finishing at-bats in the strike zone and taking his walks as they present themselves. … He’s been really good.”
That doesn’t happen by accident. Devers has built a careful new routine — one built around cage work with Fatse and locking in from the dugout instead of the hot corner. “I have my routine,” Devers said (via translator) on Tuesday.
And that’s the heart of it. A move back into the field — even part-time — could give Boston some breathing room. It would let them get Masataka Yoshida’s bat back in the lineup. It could open a path to call up top prospects like Roman Anthony or Marcelo Mayer, both of whom Breslow has ruled out from learning first base midseason.
And maybe, just maybe, it would show the kind of flexibility Boston needs from its $313.5 million man — especially with five months left to cover and no obvious replacement in sight.
But for now, there’s a hard line in the sand. And Cora’s not budging. “He’s the DH,” he said again Saturday.
Whether that holds, or whether the weight of five months without a first baseman eventually shifts the team’s stance — or Devers’ — is a storyline worth watching. For now, the answer is simple. But “simple” usually has a way of getting complicated in Fenway Park.
Jay Pritchard covers Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and sports media for Heavy.com. More about Jay Pritchard
