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‘Not everybody is 100 percent’: Here’s what Alex Cora said about a potential Rafael Devers injury
"Three days ago, everyone was saying he was setting up the pitcher the way he drops the bat."
After the Red Sox fell to the Rays 5-0 in Game 1 of the ALDS, Alex Cora was asked whether Rafael Devers is nursing an injury.
Cora seemed to bristle somewhat at the question, but he didn’t deny Devers is hurt.
“Three days ago, everyone was saying he was setting up the pitcher the way he drops the bat,” Cora said. “Today because he didn’t get a hit — it’s a grind of 162 right? There’s things that happen, and you get treatment and you grind. Not everybody is 100 percent right now. He is posting. Like I said, a few days ago, he was dropping the bat the same way. Actually, I heard he was setting up pitches with that, so.”
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Devers never looked particularly comfortable at the plate, wincing and pulling one of his hands off the bat when he swung. ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweeted that Devers is “clearly compromised” noting that the star infielder “is an absolute gamer and is trying to play through an arm injury suffered in the wild card game.”
Not everyone agreed that Devers looks limited. On NESN after the game, Jim Rice said he believes Devers is simply swinging so hard, he throws a hand off his bat.
If the Red Sox are without Devers, or if he is limited going forward, a difficult situation — trailing the 100-win Rays 1-0 — becomes significantly more difficult.
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One piece of good news for the Red Sox, however: Alex Cora told reporters J.D. Martinez — who was available on Thursday — could return for Friday’s Game 2. Martinez sprained his ankle running out to a base during the AL Wild Card game.
On Tuesday, Cora called Martinez’s ankle injury “very serious.”
“That thing looks huge, humongous,” Cora said.
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