Red Sox’ Rafael Devers gives update on shoulder soreness
Rafael Devers was scratched from the lineup on Friday night because he was dealing with left shoulder soreness.
“I feel a little bit of soreness in my shoulder,” Devers said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez. “It’s early in the season so we’ve got to be smart about that. And it’s better to take one or two days than play through and then miss two or three weeks.”
Devers didn’t rule out playing Saturday after getting rest in the second game of the season.
“I think if I feel better, there’s a good chance I’ll play tomorrow,” he said.
Devers said the shoulder soreness began during spring training when taking swings against the pitching machine.
“It started in Fort Myers,” Devers said. “I think it was getting worse and worse, and yesterday I felt it a little bit. And today at batting practice, I felt it a little bit more. And I wanted just to be smart, and I stopped.”
Devers said that the pain he was experiencing “wasn’t that big.” He did acknowledge that it was ongoing, which resulted in his absence from the lineup.
“I was able to handle it and play with it,” Devers said. “But playing with that pain, it was getting worse and worse and worse until the point that I decided to stop.”
Devers was strong on Opening Day; he had two hits, including a two-run blast off Luis Castillo in the third inning. The slugger could have helped the Red Sox punch less lineup on Friday night. He owned a career .500 batting average against George Kirby, who dazzled on the mound, tossing 6 2/3 scoreless innings and only giving up two hits.
“It happens with the hitting machine sometimes,” Devers said. “The hitting machine is not very consistent. So it sometimes throws hard. Sometimes it throws changeups. And I’m always gearing up to swing hard to the fastball. And there’s sometimes that I swing to those slow pitches, to the changeups, and it fools me a little bit and that’s where everything started.”
