Rafael Devers Is a Company Man, Not A Third Baseman

Alex Cora confirmed on Friday that Rafael Devers will not see time at third base this season. When Alex Bregman needs a day off, Romy Gonzalez will man the hot corner. To those paying attention, this shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. Cora has made it pretty clear since the signing of Bregman that Devers has been moved off of the position. Now, we know that's for good for the 2025 season. 

In the first two games of the season, Raffy has looked lost at the plate. He’s still swinging from his heels and is behind on almost every pitch. Currently, prior to Saturday's game, he’s 0-for-8 with seven strikeouts. Likely, this is rust that is being shaken off from his abbreviated spring training, so there shouldn’t need to be too much concern from fans. Which means, even though he has looked lost at the plate so far, Devers will continue to be the company man and do what is best for the team while keeping his head down.

I’ve written before how Devers doesn’t need to be vocal to be a team leader. His ability to do what the team needs him to do will do that for him. By keeping his head down, even if he disagrees with the position switch, he’s showing the younger players that sometimes you have to put your team ahead of your own personal interests. 

Something that has been brought up a handful of times recently is that there has been another Dominican powerhouse hitter who made the move to DH at the same age, David Ortiz. In all likelihood, Big Papi will go down as the greatest DH in the history of the game. He has been in Devers' ear, at least through the media, about the position switch. Devers would benefit greatly from reaching out to Ortiz and entering into a mentor/mentee relationship with him. Ortiz is highly regarded in Boston and if Devers follows in his path, then we’re likely looking at two Red Sox designated hitters in the Hall of Fame when everything is said and done.

To his credit, outside of the very first time he spoke about the Bregman signing at camp, Devers has publicly said the right thing. Alex Cora has implied that he’s been far more vocal about the switch behind the scenes and that’s to be expected, but at the end of the day, Devers wants to win championships. Having him focus on his best skill will hopefully propel the team to their next championship.