MLB Notebook: Is the breakdown beginning for Rafael Devers? Red Sox are who we thought they were & Casas calls out Ted Williams

At age 27 and 10 games into the first year of his new 10-year, $313.5-million contract, questions about the longevity of the Boston Red Sox’s best player are beginning to rear their ugly head.

That’s… not good.

Rafael Devers is on the shelf after missing three games from Thursday through Saturday with a left shoulder injury. While it’s possible Devers could be back in the lineup for Sunday’s series finale against the Los Angeles Angels (although manager Alex Cora suggested it’s probable that Devers will also sit Sunday with a goal of returning Monday), this isn’t likely to be the last time we hear about the star third baseman’s lingering shoulder issue.

Devers admits he’s been dealing with the ailment since spring training, and he’s already missed time during the regular season after being a surprise scratch with left shoulder soreness in just the team’s second game of the season in Seattle.

Both Cora and Devers are hopeful that a little time off now will take care of the issue for Devers. 

"I've been feeling it since Spring Training," Devers told reporters on Friday. "But every time I was swinging, I was feeling it a little bit more and more. So for me, I think like two or three days could be enough. I hope it doesn't keep bothering me after these two or three days, but that's something I can't control.”

Devers hasn’t been swinging a good bat of late as his average dropped to .184 after Wednesday’s collapse in a 7-5 loss en route to a sweep by the Orioles. Perhaps the injury is the reason why, but it’s clear that the slugger is frustrated.

During one of his at-bats Wednesday, Devers took a step back and slammed the butt of his bat into the ground. If it’s any consolation, he did that with his right arm… so we know that’s probably feeling fine.

But it’s fair to wonder if the team has been unwise in its handling of Devers so far in the early stages of 2024. If Devers’ injury is bad enough that he needs to miss time and the team has known about this since the spring, then what’s the point of continuing the trot him out there? 

Could it be that both he and the team underestimated the injury. Or could it be that a team severely lacking in star power and in desperate need of generating some early-season buzz felt they had no choice but to put their prized asset front and center for the world to see.

I don’t blame Devers here. Players want to play, and more often than not they’ll brush off their issues and may not reveal everything to the team or team doctors. If anyone, the blame should lie in the hands of Cora and Craig Breslow — but particularly Cora. It’s a manager’s job to protect his player, and sometimes that means taking the decision out of their hands. 

At least Cora is seeming to do that now, and it seems Devers is OK with that, but the recurrence of such an injury now three times (counting the initial occurrence in the spring) is alarming for a player with questions about how long he’ll be able to hold up.

Most of us, myself included, are likely to admit that Devers isn’t long for the infield — and maybe he’s helped speed up that timeline with a costly two-run error against the Angels in Los Angeles a week ago. Yet even the least optimistic would probably say that he isn’t so terrible that he can’t be an everyday fielder anymore. 

Despite these concerns — which are not new given his frame, his past weight issues and his violent swing — Devers has stayed healthy for the vast majority of his career. This shoulder injury could certainly be a one-off and something he can fully recover from, but the more this issue lingers, you can’t help but wonder if this is the beginning of the end for Devers…

Not as a productive player, mind you. Devers as the designated hitter could certainly be productive for the majority of the next decade, as David Ortiz himself showed us at the position. But now, in his eighth season, any injuries that do pop up and linger are only going to be intensified under the microscope of those concerns… 

Red Sox are who we thought they were

“They are who we thought they were … that’s why we took the damn field.”

Dennis Green (God rest his soul) didn’t say those words in a positive light, but I’m betting that’s what most opponents of the Red Sox will be thinking this season. And they’ll likely be doing it with a grin on their faces…

We certainly know the Baltimore Orioles were. In their first real test of the season, the Red Sox failed miserably and were swept out of they own building on Thursday. They couldn’t even manage to get themselves back up off the mat the following night in a 7-0 rout by the Angels — the same team they took two of three from over last weekend, including a 12-2 beatdown in the finale. 

On Saturday, the Sox got back on track by scoring seven runs of their own in a 7-2 victory to force a rubber match Sunday. The heart of the order did most of the heavy lifting (finally) as Boston’s top four hitters drove in six of those runs, including a pair each by Triston Casas and Masataka Yoshida (side note, my word processor autocorrected “Masataka Yoshida” to “Mistake Yoshida” and I chuckled. He’s not a mistake signing… not yet, anyway).

(Also, the recently-demoted-then-recalled-and-likely-to-be-demoted-again-soon Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. You just have to feel badly for the kid…)

It would certainly be good to see both Casas and Yoshida get going, especially with Trevor Story down for the count and Devers’ immediate future un in the air. Both are hitting .250 now, and Casas now has homers in two of his past four. 

On the mound, we got to see Breslow pet project Cooper Criswell make his first start for the big league club. The right-hander wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great either. Two runs on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts over four innings and 83 pitches. 

After that, though, the bullpen did yeoman’s work with five shutout innings, one of which came from lefty Joely Rodriguez, who now has gone five straight outings without allowing an earned run. It should also be noted that Boston’s defense was error-free… 

All of this to say, the Red Sox are now back to a game over .500 at 8-7. A lot different from the 7-3 record they began the homestand with, huh? But now, the Sox are finally back to who we thought they were. At least, who I thought they were…

This is a team with roughly .500 talent playing roughly .500 baseball. It’s who they were last year, and since they didn’t make any substantive offseason additions (although I must admit Tyler O’Neill is looking pretty good right now…), it’s likely it’s who they’ll be for most of this year too.

Stuck in the middle with You(k’s commentary on NESN, one of the few bright spots these days I’d say…)…

Casas douses water on Teddy Ballgame’s red seat

One Red Sox left-handed slugger is throwing shade at another… kind of.

After bashing a two-run homer in Boston’s four-run first on Saturday that traveled an estimated 429 feet into the right field bleachers, Casas called into question one of the most famous home runs in franchise history.