Rafael Devers’ Season-Ending Injury ‘Hard To Watch’ For Red Sox

BOSTON -- The Red Sox leaned on Rafael Devers as much as they possibly could, but the end of the road came Saturday.

Devers, who dealt with injuries to both his shoulders throughout the season, saw his campaign officially ended when he was placed on the injured list prior to Boston's (eventually postponed) matchup with the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.

How bad was it?

Devers had to get imaging done on both shoulders, with Red Sox manager Alex Cora revealing just how long his best offensive weapon had been dealing with the ailments in his pregame press conference.

"It started in Seattle," Cora said, referencing the Boston's season-opening series against the Seattle Mariners.

Devers, despite quite literally dealing with injuries throughout the course of an entire season, slashed an impressive .272/.354/.516 with 28 home runs and 83 RBI in 138 games. Boston really saw the issues pick up over the final month of the season, though, as the 27-year-old tweaked his injury diving for a ball against the Colorado Rockies immediately after the All-Star break.

Devers posted a .205/.295/.329 line following the diving play in Denver. Do the Red Sox believe the injury will require surgery?

"I have no idea," Cora said. "He was on-and-off, up-and-down for a while. It got worse (Friday), so we'll just have to wait... It's always good to finish the season active, but (the injured list is best after) watching the way he's been going."

The Red Sox were all but eliminated from postseason contention Friday, as their extra-innings loss to the Twins dropped their postseason odds below one percent. Boston had no reason to continue rolling out their franchise player for a weeks worth of meaningless games, but they sure do appreciate his effort.

"Xander (Bogaerts) really helped him with that. Xander always found ways to play, and that's what (Devers) did. I think overall, injuries aside, he was one of the best hitters, if not the best hitter in the big leagues for two and a half months and it was fun to see," Cora said Saturday. "I know the numbers are the numbers defensively, but he made some improvements in certain areas... I'm disappointed because he's basically our offense. He is the guy. The last month it's been hard to watch."