Seattle — Rafael Devers, who was removed from the Red Sox lineup on Friday due to left shoulder pain, gave an update following Boston’s 1-0 loss to the Mariners.
“I feel a little bit of soreness in my shoulder,” Devers explained through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez. “It’s early in the season, so we have to be strategic about it. And it’s better to take a day or two off than to play through and miss two or three weeks.”
Devers hasn’t ruled out playing Saturday.
“I think if I feel better, there’s a good chance I’ll play tomorrow,” he told reporters.
Devers stated that the shoulder issue developed during spring training while swinging against a pitching machine.
“It started in Fort Myers,” Devers explained. “I believe it was becoming progressively worse, and I felt it a little bit yesterday. And today at batting practice, I felt it a little more. And I just wanted to be smart, so I quit.
He stated that “the pain wasn’t that big” in Fort Myers.
“I was able to handle and play with it,” Devers stated. “But playing with that pain, it was getting worse and worse and worse until the point that I decided to stop.”
In Boston’s season opener against Seattle on Thursday, Devers had two hits, including a 400-foot two-run home drive to left center field. The slugger also hit a 110 mph double.
“It happens with the hitting machine sometimes,” Devers remarked. “The hitting machine is not very reliable. So it occasionally throws hard. It occasionally causes unexpected changes. And I’m constantly preparing to swing hard at the fastball. And there are times when I swing at those slow pitches, changeups, and it confuses me a little bit, and that’s where it all began.”