It was unclear how the Boston Red Sox would handle their infield cluster after signing third baseman Alex Bregman this offseason.
Franchise cornerstone Rafael Devers has made his reluctance to move from the hot corner and later his reluctance to move back into the field from designated hitter public this spring. However, Bregman is sidelined for the foreseeable future with a quad strain.
Devers could seemingly fill that hole and regain his regular position, but that idealistic strategy, which would free up a DH spot for, say, top prospect Roman Anthony, appears out of the question.
Here is what manager Alex Cora had to say on Devers playing third, via NESN:
“As of now, it’s not happening…He’s not going to play third base.”
This strange saga continues, and while Devers has not exactly demonstrated a team-first mentality, this constant flip-flopping by the coaching staff has partially justified his actions. No, Devers was not as upbeat as possible about losing his defensive responsibilities, and fans would have liked to see a better attitude from their highest-paid player.
But maybe this is not the best time to mess with Devers’ routine.
After a historically bad start to the year at the plate, the 28-year-old two-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger is back on track.
Devers is currently batting .286 (a notch higher than his .280 career average), with a .931 OPS, a 164 OPS+, and 12 home runs through 213 at-bats. Devers also leads the American League in RBIs (48) and walks (43) while striking out 60 times.
The awkward standoff may continue all summer, but so long as Devers keeps raking, the Red Sox can reconfigure their infield in other ways.
