BALTIMORE -- Alex Cora has routinely referenced Rafael Devers' age this season. To be exact, as of Tuesday the third baseman is 7,943 days old.
But now we're getting to the point in the season where age doesn't matter. Production does, a lesson Devers has learned at various times this season, with the most recent lesson coming via baserunning gaffe Monday night in which he was doubled off second base on a line drive to center field.
"I talked to him," Cora said. "I'm not going to sit Raffy Devers because he made a mental error. We will talk about it. We'll go through the situation. He explained to me what happened. He was very honest. Most of the time when they make a mistake they know right away. The goal for them not to repeat it. That was a learning experience yesterday. He knows it was a mistake. I explained to him the other stuff, that run what it meant. I don't want him to manage but he understands, you turn the page and hopefully, this doesn't happen again."
The evolution of Devers hasn't been as seamless as some predicted, particularly after watching him hit 10 homers with an .819 OPS in 58 regular season games last year.
This year, the 21-year-old comes into Tuesday with a .239 batting average, .706 OPS, 14 homers and (most notably) a team-high 20 errors. His manager points out that all of the ups and downs shouldn't come as a surprise considering Devers came to the majors with just 399 minor league games under his belt.
"He's very talented," Cora said. "He got called up last year because they needed him last year. The minor league process is the minor league process. You learn a lot. That's something I have to remind him. Don't be too upset. Don't be too down because you didn't go through this stage, or you missed this part of the process. There's a reason you're here because you're very talented and we trust you. For me it's been great, honestly. I like the way he goes about it. He's very hard on himself, but he loves playing and he loves to win.
"I was telling him today, 'Think about it, you went on the DL and we didn't even think about sending you down for a rehab assignment. We did it with Xander.' He laughed. Stuff like that, trying to keep it positive. It was a tough one for him because he doesn't play for X amount of days and he gets Fiers, who is throwing pitches up in the zone and he started chasing and panicking at the plate. I explained him all of that. He'll be fine. He's a good player. I think defensively he's thinking a little bit now as far as throws and all that stuff. Like I told him yesterday (regarding a late throw to first Monday night), 'All you did was you waited just half a second. The throw was perfect. The footwork was great. Don't worry about it.' We'll keep running him out there. We'll keep teaching him and we know he's going to contribute."
A subtle part of the learning process could even be found moments after the Red Sox' 5-3 win when Devers was still visibly upset about his own miscues.
"I think so. I told him yesterday, 'Whatever happened, we won the game.' One thing I tried to tell him: If you go 0-for-5 or you make an error and we won, don't show you're still upset about what happened because the goal is to win games," Cora noted. "He understood that. He came in with a good attitude and he's ready to play."
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