Ahead of Tuesday night’s series opener against the Rangers at Fenway Park, Red Sox manager Alex Cora gave us an update on the team’s ongoing process of finding a long-term replacement for the injured Triston Casas at first base.
Oh, did I say update? I meant to say lack of update.
“We talked about the Raffy first base thing the other day,” said MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “Have you had any conversations with him about it?”
“No,” Cora responded flatly.
“Do you plan to?” Cotillo followed up.
“No,” Cora repeated with the same affect.
Rafael Devers is this team’s designated hitter. And according to Cora, it’s going to stay that way.
With Devers playing the first eight years of his career at third base, much was made of his vocal displeasure with being asked to move to designated hitter to make room for gold glove third baseman Alex Bregman.
After multiple weeks of pushing against it, he relented. And after a historically slow start to the season in his new role going 0-19 in the first five games at the plate, Devers has settled in. Since April 2, he’s hit .291 with 5 home runs, 22 RBI and 11 doubles in 117 at bats. He has an on-base percentage of .401, a slugging percentage of .513 and an OPS of .914.
This major uptick in production has raised his batting average to .250 on the season. So while he’s still digging out of that massive hole from a little over a month ago, it’s clear that Devers’ new position suits him.
But with the team now having a need for production at first with Casas out for the year, and Devers’ desires from spring training to remain in the lineup as an everyday infielder still on the minds of fans and media, logic would tell you that trying the 6-foot 28-year-old at first base would make all the sense in the world.
But as of Tuesday, Cora told the media that he’s happy with the platoon he has in place with Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro.
“We’re staying the course,” said Cora. “We got these two guys here. Toro’s starting today, Romy has done an amazing job in his starts over there. So we’ll keep going that way.”
Red Sox fans have only seen Toro in one at bat for the franchise, as he spent the first six years of his career playing for four different teams. Now in year seven, Toro gets his chance to start at a corner infield spot for one of baseball’s most iconic franchises.
“Saw [Toro] from afar, from the other side,” said Cora. “A good at bat, good defender, versatile. But in sprint training, we were able to see him on an everyday basis. He has a pretty good idea offensively.
“He knows what he wants to do. He hunts pitches in certain areas, and he executes. He’s patient enough that he can slow it down. And he did an amazing job in spring training. Got off to a great start in Triple-A, and you sign those guys in the offseason for opportunity, for situations like this, right? And we expect them to play a little bit at first, and we expect him to contribute.”
For those worried that moving Devers’ from designated hitter to first base would create another hole in the lineup, there may be help on the way that would alleviate this concern.
Masataka Yoshida, who has yet to make his 2025 debut after undergoing shoulder surgery in October, told the media pregame on Tuesday through his interpreter that he is no longer experiencing pain while batting.
“Are you still hitting at full force, like 100%, so if they were to activate you today, you could hit?” asked MassLive’s Chris Smith.
“Yeah, as far as the hitting - yeah, no problem,” said Yoshida.
While he made it clear that any throws he’s making over 120 feet are still giving him pain, batting would not be an issue if he were called upon to do so.
This, obviously, screams “DH.”
But as of Tuesday, the job isn’t open.
Devers is the DH, and the team will continue experimenting with the likes of Toro and Gonzalez at first.
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