The Boston Red Sox were dealt a major blow last week when starting first baseman Triston Casas ruptured his left patellar tendon during Friday's 6-1 win over the Minnesota Twins. Although the 25-year-old veteran has since successfully undergone surgery, he's expected to miss the remainder of the 2025 MLB season.
With Casas on the shelf, Red Sox fans are wondering who'll be the long-term solution for the club's 1B woes. Some of the fanbase has floated around the idea of moving designated hitter Rafael Devers to first base, especially with the terrific performance he's having at the plate this year.
Much to that group of fans' dismay, though, MassLive's Chris Cotillo poured some cold water on that idea on Sunday night.
"Devers does not want to talk about (playing 1B) for whatever reason," Cotillo wrote on X. "He has declined interview requests from the beat three times in the last 36 hours, knowing what the line of questioning is going to be."
As disappointing as Devers' response to Boston's 1B needs might not be, his reaction shouldn't be surprising to the Red Sox brass.
Red Sox Shouldn't Be Shocked by Rafael Devers' Refusal to Play 1B
It wouldn't be shocking if some drama from the Red Sox's latest offseason played a role in Devers refusing to answer questions about potentially playing first base.
After all, the 28-year-old Dominican slugger opened winter as the Red Sox's starting third baseman following a 2024 performance that saw him tally 28 home runs and 83 RBIs en route to his third MLB All-Star performance in four seasons. Devers' spot in the lineup quickly changed when Boston signed two-time World Series-winning 3B Alex Bregman to a $120 million contract, moving the former to his current DH role.
Although Devers wasn't initially thrilled about the change, he accepted his role and learned to make the most of it. The two-time Silver Slugger has thrived in the DH role so far, racking up five home runs, 23 RBIs, 26 walks, and a .250/.370/.441 slash line in 36 games (136 at-bats). His performance is a big reason why Boston is averaging 4.97 runs per game (8th).
Now that he's had the above success, nobody should be surprised that Devers doesn't want to make another positional change.
He likely doesn't want to be treated like a human yo-yo, going from being an infielder to the designated hitter to being asked to field again. Perhaps he'd be more open to a change had the offseason drama not happened, but that bridge has already been crossed.
There's also the fact that Devers has yet to play first base at the MLB level. The majority of his playing time has come at third base before shifting to DH duties this season, so he likely isn't open to learning a new position at this stage of his career, too.
With Devers likely only interested in playing DH or third base, it'll be up to the Red Sox to figure out how to replace Casas for the 2025 season. It won't be long before the MLB trade deadline arrives at the end of July, putting even more pressure on Boston to solve its 1B woes sooner rather than later.