Boston Red Sox fans are not enthused with the team’s performance and manager Alex Cora after his recent comments about Rafael Devers and first base. Last week, the Red Sox lost Triston Casas to a devastating season-ending knee injury at Fenway Park.
This was a huge loss for the Red Sox, as they don’t have a quality backup first baseman who can step in immediately for the injured Casas. Most fans thought Devers, Boston’s designated hitter this season, would be the perfect option to replace Casas.
The 28-year-old slugger has never played first base in the majors; most of his playing time has come at third base. But when you have a devastating injury such as the one to Casas, you have to make drastic decisions sometimes.
Cora made a “significant” move at first base, but it wasn’t what fans wanted to see. The veteran manager is deciding to go with a platoon at first with Abraham Toro and Romy Gonzalez, which is not what the fans wanted.
And then to make matters worse, Cora told reporters before Tuesday’s game that he hasn’t had conversations with Devers about first base and doesn’t plan to, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com.
Cora reiterates he hasn’t had conversations with Devers about first base. Does he plan to? “No.”
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) May 6, 2025
As you can imagine, Sox fans on social media were angry as some called for the manager to be fired. They believe Devers at first base would give Boston the best nine guys on the field, and open up the designated hitter spot for Masataka Yoshida in the future.
This season, Devers is hitting .252 at the plate with five home runs and 23 RBI, which isn’t bad after he started the year 0-for-19 with 15 strikeouts.
That said, the Red Sox know a platoon of Toro and Gonzalez isn’t a great long-term solution, as they’ll likely have to make a trade at the deadline for a first baseman. On Wednesday, Cora was on WEEI, where he was once again asked about Devers playing first base.
According to Rob Bradford of WEEI, the Red Sox manager said he’s not saying he’ll have the conversation again with Devers, but wants him to get comfortable with DH. Cora added, "To throw something at him would be unfair."
Alex Cora on @WEEIAfternoons said about Devers playing 1B: ‘I’m not saying we’ll never have that conversation’ but wants to continue have him get used to DH. ‘To throw something at him would be unfair’
— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) May 7, 2025
Nevertheless, this first base dilemma will not go away anytime soon until Cora can find a solution that the fanbase finds to be adequate in their eyes.