Devers sits out again with sore left shoulder
Rafael Devers continues to experience pain/soreness in his left shoulder, and the Red Sox are unsure if the third baseman will require a stint on the injured list.
As a result, he received a game off for Thursday night’s series finale against the Orioles at Fenway Park.
“We’re just giving him the day. Hopefully that’s what he needs and go from there,” manager Alex Cora said prior to a 9-4 loss in 10 innings.
Devers doesn’t think it will be too long until he’s back on the field.
“Every time I was swinging, I was feeling it a little bit more and more,” said Devers after the loss. “So for me, I think like two or three days could be enough.”
Devers initially felt the tweak in his shoulder while hitting off a pitching machine at the end of spring training. He played Opening Day in Seattle, going 2 for 5 with a home run and two RBIs against the Mariners, but missed the next two games before returning for the finale of the four-game set.
The Sox then faced the Athletics, and that’s when the impact of the lingering injury became noticeable at the plate. Devers spent the entire spring spraying the baseball to the opposite field following an offseason hand adjustment (lowering them to the letters). However, during the series in Oakland, Devers’s approach became a bit more pull-happy as he tried to compensate for his ailing shoulder by jumping on the fastball earlier.
“You can see his reactions after he [swings and misses],” Cora said. “Whenever he swings and misses it kind of recoils. His swing is a little bit different than earlier in camp.”
Devers is off to a slow start, hitting .184 in 10 games with two homers and three RBIs.
Cora was asked if Devers will require a stay on the IL.
“Hopefully not,” Cora said. “Let’s see how it goes. But it’s too early to be grinding. That’s the way I see it.”
Kimbrel enjoys visit
When Craig Kimbrel closed out the Orioles’ 7-5 win Wednesday night, the outing marked his first appearance at Fenway since he recorded a save for the Red Sox with a scoreless ninth inning against the Dodgers in Game 2 of the 2018 World Series. Over the prior five seasons, none of the four teams for whom he pitched (Cubs, White Sox, Dodgers, Phillies) played in Boston while Kimbrel was on its roster.
“You would have thought I’d have been back by now,” Kimbrel said. “The last couple of days, being here in town and getting to take it in, those memories will always be with me. But when it was time to warm up, it was to make more good memories, just in a different uniform.”
Kimbrel saved 108 games, recorded a 2.44 ERA, and made three straight All-Star teams from 2016-18 with the Sox, but said that he never had meaningful conversations with the club about returning when he reached free agency after the 2018 campaign. In his 15th year, he entered Thursday with 419 career saves, eighth on the all-time list and three shy of former Braves teammate Billy
Wagner.
Casas gets it
Triston Casas understands that one of his strengths includes pulling the ball in the air. It’s how he taps into his power. Yet he also understands the benefit of playing at Fenway, and how utilizing the short distance to the Green Monster could be beneficial.
“A lot of what I [want to do] has to do with the left-field wall,” Casas said, detailing one of his focuses this season. “To center and to right-center, those are pretty deep but play true to my swing and my strengths. But I want to utilize the opposite field a little bit more. I think this park is geared more toward lefthanded hitters and being successful for lefthanded hitters.”
Casas, who had just two homers to the opposite field last season at Fenway, hit one in that direction off Orioles lefthander Cole Irvin in the fifth inning.
“That was well-hit,” Cora said. “Hanging in there with the lefty. The at-bats are getting better.”
Gonzalez unable to go
Romy Gonzalez’s left wrist was wrapped in a splint Thursday. Gonzalez was injured Wednesday when he went after a ball in the hole at shortstop on a sliding play, and felt his wrist get caught in the grass. X-Rays on Gonzalez’s wrist came back negative and he will remain dayto-day. With Devers out, Gonzalez was supposed to play third base in the series finale but had to be scratched. Pablo Reyes started at third and committed an eighth-inning error that proved costly . . . Vaughn Grissom (hamstring) will begin a rehab assignment Friday with Triple A Worcester and is scheduled to play second base at Syracuse . . . Outfielder Rob Refsnyder (toe) is also on a rehab assignment for Worcester but had an offday Thursday after playing Wednesday. He will play again Friday.