Boston Red Sox spring training has been mired in controversy from pretty much the moment trucks rolled up to Fenway South in Fort Myers. Alex Bregman's arrival in free agency seemed like a great fit on paper, a righty-hitting infielder tailor-made for the Green Monster, but Rafael Devers quickly made clear that he had no plans to vacate third base for his new teammate any time soon. While Bregman has done and said all the right things so far in camp, hitting well while serving as a leader for the team's armada of young talent, Devers (and some other players) have done ... more or less the opposite of that, raising questions about just how the team will handle a delicate situation ahead of Opening Day.
Well, we have some good news and bad news on that front for Red Sox fans. The good news is that this might not be as much of a dilemma as it appears, at least not in the short term. The bad news is that what makes Boston's decision easy increasingly seems like it could derail at least some of Devers' 2025 season.
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Rafael Devers shoulder issue is officially becoming a concern for the Red Sox
Devers was shut down toward the end of 2024 with discomfort in his shoulder. Further testing found nothing structurally wrong, only what the team called "inflammation," and it was assumed that a winter of rest and recovery would help the slugger return in the spring at 100 percent. But things haven't played out that way: Devers got a late start to baseball activities this spring, and while he's begun to ramp things up over the last week or two, Ian Browne of MLB.com reported on Tuesday that he won't be able to make his anticipated spring debut on Wednesday as previously planned.
Per Browne, Devers "still doesn't feel up to speed at the plate" during live batting practice, and has asked for a little more time to shake the rust off before seeing game action.
It turns out that Devers won't make his debut tomorrow. He still doesn't feel up to speed at the plate during live BP. He asked Alex Cora for a little more time.
— Ian Browne (@IanMBrowne) March 4, 2025
It's unclear just how much this is related to Devers' shoulder issue, or if he just got a late start and doesn't feel like his swing and timing are where they need to be in order to face opposing pitching. But given the offseason he's just had, it's not what Boston wants to hear, especially with Opening Day now just weeks away.
It sure seems like whatever was bothering Devers at the end of last season hasn't entirely gone away, and at this point it's fair to wonder just what's wrong and whether the infielder will be able to get past it without more significant interventions. This does make the team's initial Opening Day decision a bit easier; if Devers isn't quite right, starting him on the IL or even just as a DH to take some stress off will allow Bregman to slide over to third and make Vaughn Grissom or David Hamilton the starting second baseman. But if Boston is going to win big this season, it needs Devers at full capacity.