Might Boston Red Sox’ Rafael Devers play 162 games without off day? ‘Sí’

Might Boston Red Sox’ Rafael Devers play 162 games without off day? ‘Sí’
Boston Red Sox’ Rafael Devers doubles during the first inning April 15, 2025, in Tampa. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)AP

TORONTO — DH Rafael Devers has started all 31 games the Red Sox have played this year. He’s the only player on his team that hasn’t had at least one day off.

Now that he’s the full-time DH, could he play in all 162 games without a routine day off if he deals with no injuries this season?

“Sí,” Devers said.

Playing 162 is not out of the realm of possibility as the plan is for him not to play any third base this season. All he will do is DH unless maybe the Red Sox get into an emergency situation.

He’s already gotten close to 162 games in three seasons. He appeared in 156 games in both 2019 and ’21. He played in 153 games in 2023.

He didn’t have as easy of a time staying on the field last year (138 games) because of injuries to both shoulders. He slashed just .205/.295/.329/.624 in his final 42 games when he tried to play through the soreness.

“I feel good. I feel healthy,” Devers said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez. “You don’t know what’s going to happen during the season. But at this point in time … I feel very good. I feel healthy. I feel like I can do that.”

It seems like it might be up to Devers whether he receives any routine days off.

“We talked about it a little bit the other day,” manager Alex Cora said. “I asked him. I said, ‘Hey, whenever you need an off day, just let me know. Obviously because you’re DH it doesn’t mean that we have to play you 162.’ So he’s working hard. He’s doing a lot of things in the gym and all that, so we have to be smart about it. But one of the reasons he’s DH’ing is because we want to keep him in the lineup. That’s the most important thing.”

Devers belted a 422-foot, 111.1-mph home run in the Red Sox’ 10-2 win over the Blue Jays here at Rogers Centre on Tuesday.

He’s 6-for-17 (.353) with three homers, one double, four RBIs, six runs, three walks and three strikeouts in four games on this road trip.

“It feels good … because I wasn’t hitting the ball,” Devers said. “I feel like we’re playing very good baseball all around. Defensively, the pitchers are doing their job, the bullpen, base running, hitting. So I think everything’s clicking right now.”

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