Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Alex Cora doubles down on not asking Rafael Devers to play first base
"We made a decision. We talked to him. He's a DH."
A day after Triston Casas suffered a season-ending knee injury, Red Sox manager Alex Cora brushed aside talk of shifting DH Rafael Devers over to first base moving forward.
“From my end right now? No,” Cora told reporters Saturday of Devers moving to first. “We asked him [to become the DH] in spring training. In the beginning, he didn’t agree with it and now he’s very comfortable doing what he’s doing.”
Speaking again on Tuesday, Cora once again reaffirmed that the Red Sox don’t plan to ask Devers to return to the infield — even with the clear vacancy in place following Casas’ injury.
Advertisement:
“No,” Cora said when asked if he had approached Devers about playing first.
As for if the Red Sox intend to eventually broach the subject to Devers?
“No,” Cora added.
If Devers is not viewed as an option, the next men up for the Red Sox at first are Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro — with the latter called up from Triple-A Worcester this week.
“We’re staying the course. We got these two guys here,” Cora said of Gonzalez and Toro, per NESN.com’s Greg Dudek, adding: “Romy has done an amazing job in his starts over there. We’ll keep going that way.”
Advertisement:
While the Red Sox have options between Gonzalez and Toro, moving Devers over to first would seemingly be the best option in terms of maximizing the effectiveness of Boston’s lineup.
Devers — who was adamant about playing third base in spring training before eventually moving to DH — could conceivably move to first, thus allowing Boston to put another impact bat at the DH spot.
A healthy Masataka Yoshida could eventually slot in at DH, or Boston could even call up Roman Anthony or Marcelo Mayer for that role if the Red Sox are in desperate need of a spark.
But Cora has seemingly been hesitant to move Devers once again, especially given that the team already asked him to move off third during spring training.
“We made a decision. We talked to him,” Cora said Saturday of Devers’ role. “He’s a DH.”
While Cora has shown some resistance to slotting Devers over to first base, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow acknowledged on Saturday that the team was leaving no stone unturned when it comes to replacing Casas at first.
“I think we’re all still trying to figure out what the longterm solution looks like,” Breslow said of Devers possibly playing first base. “At this point, we’re still pretty focused on Triston getting everything he needs and focused on taking care of him.”
Advertisement:
While both Mayer and Anthony are knocking at the door for big-league reps, Breslow also dismissed a scenario where either prospect begins their MLB career at first base.
“Asking guys who haven’t played in the big leagues yet to assume new positions at the same time that they’re trying to make that transition is a difficult ask,” he said.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com