Red Sox's Alex Cora Laments Superstar's Struggles: 'It's Been Hard To Watch'

Boston has limped to the finish of the season, both literally and figuratively

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The Boston Red Sox have had a terrible week.

Boston has had to finally accept their fate as a non-playoff team (for the third consecutive season) while watching their superstar slugger succumb to injuries that have now created a nervy MRI results waiting game.

Rafael Devers has been bothered by shoulder problems all season long, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora spoke about Devers’s health on Saturday, per The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey.

“When reporters met with manager Alex Cora before the game, the team did not yet have the results of the MRI, but Cora did not strike an optimistic tone,” McCaffrey said.

“It doesn’t make sense to push him,” Cora said, per McCaffrey. “It’s always good to finish the season active, but just watching him and the way he’s been going about it, it’s likely the IL regardless.”

“(The pain) was on and off, up and down for a while there, then nothing, then (Friday) got worse,” Cora said.

“Disappointed because he is basically our offense. He is the guy. And just the last month it’s been hard to watch.”

Devers, 27, will have a long offseason to recover from his shoulder ailments, although the severity of the injuries is a detail Red Sox fans are still waiting to hear about.

The worst-case scenario for Boston would be that Devers’s health issues in 2024 turn into a recurring problem that follows him for the rest of his career.

If Devers has to take time away from all physical activity this fall and winter, that’s exactly what he should do.

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