Red Sox target March 5 for Devers' debut, but where will he play?

NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Now that his shoulders are back up to speed, star slugger Rafael Devers is nearing game action.

Prior to Tuesday’s road game against the Braves, Red Sox manager Alex Cora targeted the March 5 home game against the Rays as the day Devers will be in Boston’s Grapefruit League lineup for the first time.

Devers has been a hot topic of conversation this spring after Boston signed a prized free agent in Alex Bregman, who also plays third base.

Earlier in camp, Devers expressed a reluctance (first to the Red Sox and later to the media) to move to designated hitter.

If Devers stays at third, Bregman -- last season’s American League Gold Glove Award winner at the hot corner -- will move to second.

Decisions are ongoing, particularly with two promising young players (No. 7 overall prospect Kristian Campbell and Vaughn Grissom) getting the opportunity to win the job at second base. Speedy David Hamilton is also in the second-base conversation.

There are a lot of moving parts, and Cora is trying to navigate them as best he can.

“[Devers will] play third [this spring],” Cora said. “I mean, the whole thing is we’re preparing Raffy to play third base. That’s part of the progression. He'll DH here and there. I don't know if on March 5, he'll play third, but we'll get him reps. I think people are making decisions already, and we haven't made decisions.

“But we'll keep talking to him, and we'll keep talking to Alex. There's a lot of things going on at second base right now. We’ve got to find a way to get them all in. [Devers] feels he's the third baseman. We've seen him before, so he's preparing to play third base. In Spring Training, we’ll get him innings at third base. He'll DH too, like the usual Spring Training.”

Cora said Bregman will play second base this spring, but he wasn’t sure when.

When it comes to Devers, the most important part is his bat, which is one of the most dangerous in the league.

“It will be fun to have the big boy [back] in the lineup,” Cora said.

Devers spent the first two weeks of spring strengthening his shoulders so he can hit at his usual All-Star-caliber level, something he couldn’t do down the stretch last season.

On Wednesday, Devers will take live batting practice for the first time this spring. He’s put himself in position to be ready for that.

“He’s hit off Trajekt a lot the last four days. They say he looks amazing,” Cora said. “I saw him on the field today just working on a few things to pull the ball. Last year, he struggled after [injuring his right shoulder on July 23 in] Colorado to get to the pitch inside. He's working on that, trying to get that feeling. He looks good.”

Though they’ve retooled their roster with significant additions, the Red Sox will still need Devers bashing the ball on a regular basis to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2021.

And if Devers does stay at third base, it will be because he earned it with a strong Spring Training.

“He’s been working hard with [infield coach José Flories] in the mornings to be more specific [with his work],” Cora said. “Alex [Bregman] actually helped him. He gave him a cue, like to help him defensively, and he has made the adjustment, and he's in a good place.”