The Boston Red Sox have not had the season they had hoped for so far. Injuries and position change headlines have overtaken their season, mainly the injury to Triston Casas and Rafael Devers’ refusal to play first base.
Before the season, the Red Sox signed Alex Bregman to a $120 million contract and asked Devers to become the full-time designated hitter. However, after Casas suffered a season-ending knee injury, Craig Breslow reportedly asked Devers to play first base. Devers went on a rant to the media about how the team was not staying true to their word, and that their request upset him.
Devers has remained at designated hitter, and Red Sox legend David Ortiz weighed in on the situation in an interview with the Associated Press.
“He’s doing great as the DH. They asked for it, and he’s doing great as the DH,” Ortiz told the Associated Press. “Once (the) Casas situation goes down … In people’s minds, it was: ‘Devers goes to first and (Masataka) Yoshida goes to DH and we are a better team’. Yeah, that’s what you put in your mind. But guess what? The kid was asked in a spring training to just hit and now all of a sudden you want to switch him over. It takes time.”
Ortiz made his mark on MLB history primarily as a designated hitter. He is a Hall of Famer and has won three World Series titles with the Red Sox. He has hit 541 career home runs. While he thinks Devers is playing well at DH, he did note that if he is going to play first base, it should be an informed decision.
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“I will say this: At one point, if Devers would like to practice at first base, and would like to go back to playing the whole defense thing, that is all on him,” Ortiz told the Associated Press.
“We asked him to be the DH. Fully asked him to be the DH,” he continued. “I remember that conversation in spring training. It’s a different situation and the guy’s doing great at what you asked him for. He’s giving you what you asked for, even if it wasn’t what he was agreeing on.”
The Red Sox desperately need a spark, and more production from the DH spot could provide that. Devers is hitting .286 with a .923 OPS and 12 home runs. If he moved to first base, it would open the DH spot for Yoshida when he returns, or even facilitate Roman Anthony being called up.
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