Rafael Devers Reveals Lingering Shoulder Soreness Since Spring Training

Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers was a late scratch from Boston’s matchup with the Seattle Mariners on Friday night due to left shoulder soreness.

“Just sore, he tried doing (batting practice),” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “He’s just kind of stiff, sore. He didn’t feel great throughout the day. He got some treatment and gave it a push and it didn’t work out.”

Cora added the Red Sox want to be smart about not rushing Devers back into the lineup and he is day-to-day.

“He’ll come in tomorrow,” Cora said. “Hopefully, he’ll be ready to go. And if that’s not the case, we’ll wait one more day.”

Devers admitted his shoulder started bothering him in Fort Myers for Spring Training.

“It started in Fort Myers,” Devers told reporters through team interpreter Carlos Villoria-Benítez, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “It was getting worse and worse. Today, in practice I felt a bit more and wanted to just be smart.

“(In) Fort Myers, the pain wasn’t bad; I was able to handle it and play with it. But playing with that pain it was getting worse and worse and worse to the point that I decided to stop.”

The 27-year-old echoed Cora’s hopes that if he feels better on Saturday, he would be back in the lineup against the Mariners.

Devers hit his first home run of the season in the Red Sox’s Opening Day 6-4 win over the Seattle Mariners.