Red Sox's Alex Cora Alludes To Moving Rafael Devers Down In Batting Order

It sounds like the addition of Yoshida will shake up the lineup

Scott Neville | Feb 14, 2023

Red Sox's Alex Cora Alludes To Moving Rafael Devers Down In Batting Order /

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Boston Red Sox

If you told fans that Rafael Devers would be moving down in the batting order after an offseason full of turnover -- they'd probably expect a very different-looking lineup.

Core players such as Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez will no longer fill the middle of the order and Boston did little to replace those stars in terms of name value.

Yet, Red Sox manager Alex Cora hinted toward a lineup change for superstar third baseman Rafael Devers, who has claimed the No. 2 spot in the order as of late.

Cora told reporters that he would like to break up Masataka Yoshida and Devers in the lineup according to The Boston Globe's Alex Speier on Tuesday.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has mentioned Yoshida as a leadoff candidate, which aligns with all other reports regarding his role heading into 2023.

With Cora wanting to break up the two left-handed sluggers, that would move Devers down to either third or fourth in the lineup.

The battle for the No. 2 spot would likely be between designated hitter Justin Turner and shortstop Kiké Hernández.

Old-school baseball strategy would place the best hitter on the roster in the third spot. However, it would leave Devers to bat with two outs and nobody on frequently. If he batted fourth, you could avoid that situation the first time through the order -- for the most part.

If Devers is kicked down to fourth in the order, Turner and outfielder Alex Verdugo would make a lot of sense to fill the second and third slots behind Yoshida versus right-handed pitching.

There is also a world where Devers maintains his spot as the No. 2 hitter and Yoshida becomes a doubles machine in the No. 4 spot.

Regardless of where Devers is moved, it will be interesting to see how this new-look offense performs. There are some big shoes to fill.

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Published Feb 14, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu