Red Sox's Craig Breslow Explains Latest Decision On Rafael Devers' Position

The Sox are all in on Devers at DH...

Apr 15, 2025; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter Rafael Devers hits a double in the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays. All players wore number 42 for Jackie Robinson Day at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

The Rafael Devers positional saga was the story that dominated spring training headlines for the Boston Red Sox. Three weeks into the season, the noise has mostly faded away.

Devers initially resisted the idea of moving to designated hitter when the team signed Gold Glove third baseman Alex Bregman in free agency. However, the front office and manager Alex Cora handled that transition delicately, announcing Bregman would be the starting third baseman in the final week before the regular season.

Devers hasn't had a great start to the season, but he settled in at DH after a major slump through the team's first five games. And the Red Sox are committed to allowing him to make that transition, as they demonstrated earlier this week.

In Boston's series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, Bregman was unavailable thanks to the birth of his second child. But the Red Sox left Devers in the DH role, instead choosing to start utility man Romy González at the hot corner.

On Thursday, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow explained on WEEI's Greg Hill Show why Devers didn't play third base on Wednesday, and hasn't done so all season.

“I think it’s an opportunity to get guys into the lineup that we want to make sure aren’t sitting for long, whether that’s Romy or Hammy (David Hamilton),” Breslow said.

“Raffy is obviously going through a transition in terms of his role and we want to make sure that we’re doing everything we possibly can to make sure that transition is as easy as possible. Sometimes, adding things to one’s plate can make it a little bit more complicated.”

Through 20 games, Devers is slashing .227/.337/.347. Those numbers would represent the worst full season of his career, but it's still early, and after an 0-for-19 start with 15 strikeouts, he's batting .304 with an .858 OPS.

The longer Devers stays in the DH role, the more comfortable he'll likely be. And for the Red Sox to truly establish themselves as playoff contenders, Devers will have to produce at the plate like he has throughout his career.

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