Rafael Devers’ saga has come to an end. The 28-year-old Dominican player will be the Boston Red Sox’s DH during the 2025 season. He won’t be playing third base, even if Alex Bregman needs an off day, manager Alex Cora announced on Friday on NESN.
Romy Gonzalez and David Hamilton will be Cora’s backups at third base, according to MassLive. This was a surprising announcement because Devers had been practicing at third base during Spring Training and before the first two games of the season.
«Raffy is gonna DH,’ manager Alex Cora said on Friday on NESN. ‘I lived through this in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. We asked Carlos [Correa] to play third base. There was an off-day for Francisco [Lindor], and Edwin Rodríguez, who was the manager back then, asked me to tell Carlos that he would be playing shortstop. I told him he needed to do it himself. You’re the manager.’»
Alex Cora defended Rafael Devers for most of the offseason, stating that the Dominican-born infielder would be the third baseman. But then Alex Bregman’s signing happened, and everything changed.
«We had a conversation, and we’ve talked about it,» Cora told NESN. «He is the DH of the Boston Red Sox.»
This saga has been generating concerns in the media while Rafael Devers has struggled in the season opener. As of the time of this article, he has struck out six times in seven plate appearances.
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Alex Cora’s statement could benefit top prospect Marcelo Mayer at any time. If the Boston Red Sox suffer any issues in their infield, it’s likely that the infielder, who was assigned to Triple-A Worcester, will be called up to play second base or shortstop.
