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 Jos¨¦ 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.¡±