Don’t count on Rafael Devers to move back to third base as Alex Bregman’s injury replacement.
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora didn’t mention Devers as a third base option while naming potential replacements after Friday’s 19-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
“Ceddanne (Rafaela) can play third, Sogey (Nick Sogard) can play third, (Abraham) Toro can play third,” Cora said. “I don’t know how much KC (Kristian Campbell) played last year. We know Connor (Wong) can do it. So in case of emergency, we can move KC to the outfield, Ceddanne to the infield, and go from there.
Bregman exited Friday’s game in the fifth inning after he pulled up awkwardly rounding first base. The prized offseason addition immediately removed himself from the game, prompting panic across Red Sox Nation.
Later, the Red Sox announced Bregman left the game with right quad tightness. He called the injury a “day-to-day” thing, which is encouraging given how the injury initially looked.
Cora may not need to find a long-term answer at third base after all, but his omission of Devers’ name is telling. Devers has already called out the Red Sox front office for asking him to play first base after moving him from third to designated hitter. It appears Cora and Co. are avoiding another difficult conversation with the veteran slugger.
They also may not want to disrupt Devers’ scorching-hot stretch as the DH. He blasted two homers and drove in eight runs in Friday’s blowout victory, bumping his OPS up to .972 in the process.
If Bregman has to be placed on the injured list, another option for Boston is promoting top infield prospect Marcelo Mayer. Although Mayer is primarily a shortstop, and he has recently spent his time at second base, he also has experience at the hot corner.
Watch “Felger & Mazz” discuss the third base drama below or on YouTube:
