Alex Cora clarifies comments regarding Rafael Devers’ health amid slump at the plate
Raffy #Raffy
Just ahead of the Red Sox’ road matchup against the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday night, Alex Cora clarified his comments made earlier that day on WEEI regarding the health of Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers.
When asked during his weekly appearance on WEEI’s “Gresh & Fauria about Devers’ recent slump at the plate and his lack of hustle while trying to beat a double-play sequence on Monday, Cora offered up some cryptic musings about whether the star infielder is dealing with a nagging injury.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Cora said of a potential injury with Devers. “But like I said, people are going to take the team meetings the way they want to, and they’re going to say, ‘Oh they’re not hustling, they’re not playing good baseball.’ I don’t know. From my end, I’m good with the effort, the kid is playing every day, so we go from there.”
Later that evening, Cora clarified that Devers is not injured.
“I got asked today about Raffy,” Cora said, per MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith. “And Raffy is not banged up. I just feel like sometimes people question effort. And over 162 games, there’s certain times that you hit a bullet at 108 (mph exit velocity) right at the shortstop and there’s nothing else you can do. So it’s that balance of hustling or false hustling, like taking care of your legs too.
I just want to make sure everybody knows he’s not hurt. Obviously when things are looking bad and you have team meetings and all that stuff, people are going to question what’s going on. And effort always comes into play. And I respect the guys. I respect the question. But from my end, Raffy’s not banged up.”
The Red Sox have been mired in a 5-10 slump over the last three weeks.
And while there is not one overarching reason for Boston’s drop in the standings, Rafael Devers’ struggles at the plate have certainly played into the Sox’ woes recently.
After signing a 10-year, $313.5 million contract with Boston this past offseason, Devers is tied for fourth in MLB with 49 RBI. But the 26-year-old third baseman is also batting just .241 with a .774 OPS.
“Raffy’s going to play 162 games, and people don’t know what’s going on in the background,” Cora said on WEEI about Devers and his recent play. “You don’t know if he’s a little banged up or if he’s actually 100 percent. So for people to judge it that way, I think it’s not the right thing to do because not everybody knows his story.”
Even though Cora confirmed that Devers is not injured, the Sox need their franchise star to start slugging
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The post Alex Cora clarifies comments regarding Rafael Devers’ health amid slump at the plate appeared first on Boston.com.