Alex Cora provided some encouraging news regarding Rafael Devers.
The Red Sox manager told WEEI’s ‘Jones & Mego’ that the Boston slugger could be in the lineup as early as Wednesday night against the Guardians after leaving Tuesday’s game with a knee injury.
“Raffy is feeling good. There’s a chance he’ll play tonight,” Cora said. “I’m just waiting for him to show up. We pushed everything back today…the medical team will check him out and if he’s a go he’ll DH.”
News that Devers could be back in the lineup is certainly positive, but the team is going to need more than just his bat to turn things around.
Tuesday’s extra-inning loss to Cleveland was filled with some more mental mistakes – such as Triston Cases getting picked off second base following a leadoff double and Wilyer Abreu recording the team’s 20th error of the season.
Cora was asked if he could explain the recent spate of errors in the field and on the basepaths.
“I want to say inexperience but at end of the day we’ve played the game for a long, long time; it’s just a different stage,” he said. “Sometimes it’s feeling pressure of the big leagues and trying to prove a point, sometimes it’s thinking the wrong thing. Yesterday, Casas was very honest about it. …The value of 27 outs is real. You get 27 offensively, you get 27 defensively. If you give more than 27 to opposition they’re gonna cash in. If we get more, we’re going to do the same thing. But if we’re giving outs away on the basepaths…at this level those mistakes are gonna cost you. We’ve been very sloppy. They started in the West Coast. I know it was a good [trip] but toward the end there were a lot of mistakes.”