Red Sox Notes: How Alex Cora Approaches Rafael Devers Slump

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora will do almost anything at the moment to help get Rafael Devers out of his major slump.

So, does Cora sit Devers down and have a chat with him, or let the nine-year big leaguer figure things out on his own?

“All of the above,” Cora told reporters, per NESN. “It’s like kids, right? Sometimes you leave them alone so they can think about it. Others, you call them into the office. Sometimes we eat or have a drink or something like that.”

Devers’ ghastly woes at the plate continued in Boston’s 8-5 road loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. The Red Sox star went hitless once again, going 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and two walks. Devers is now an unfathomable 0-for-19 through five games with 15 strikeouts.

But it isn’t all bad from Cora’s view. He pointed to Devers’ final at-bat of the game against Orioles stud reliever Félix Bautista as a sign that things are turning around. Devers fought off a 97 mph sinker on the outer half before walking, which put the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth.

“There was some positives today,” Cora said. “There was one swing in the last at-bat that I was like, ‘OK we’re getting there.’ (It was) the foul ball to left field. He got behind the ball and he actually got the barrel to it. Good at-bat, too. He walked.

“The strikeouts are up there, but the one thing — and we’ll find it mechanically — the good thing is he’s not chasing pitches. He’s swinging at pitches in the zone. Obviously, the bad thing is he’s swinging and missing to those pitches. But there were some positives today and we just build from that. Hopefully Wednesday’s the day that he gets one, hits it and he can breathe and go from there.”

Devers’ bat speed being a few ticks down from last year feels like it is contributing to his struggles as he has had a hard time catching up to fastballs. Cora said in Texas that the Red Sox were looking to make an adjustment to Devers’ stance to help get him back on track.

“I never change the way that I hit. I’m still aggressive — my batting stance or anything like that,” Devers told reporters through translator Carlos Villoria-Benitez. “I’ve always been like that. Maybe I’m thinking too much at the plate, what the pitcher might throw or not, but I feel like otherwise, I feel very good.”

Cora said he will continue to pencil in Devers to the No. 2 spot in the order going forward. And like Cora, Devers is optimistic about where things are headed.

“I don’t know how far or close my hits are,” Devers said. “But like I said many times before, I feel good, I feel comfortable. I know the type of hitter that I am. I know the hits are going to come sooner rather than later. … It’s just a matter of time.”

Here are more notes from Monday’s Red Sox-Orioles game:

— It’s not just Devers struggling at the plate. Trevor Story, Connor Wong, Ceddanne Rafaela and Triston Casas, who didn’t start Monday but came on as a pinch hitter, are a combined 5-for-63 (.079) to start the season.

— Sean Newcomb, who is a Middleboro, Mass. native, made his Red Sox debut and had a tough first inning before settling in. Newcomb surrendered hits to the first four batters he faced and gave up four runs in the first inning. But the left-hander put up zeros after that, in large part thanks to three double plays.

Newcomb pitched four innings, allowing four runs on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

“Just kind of recognize what was going on and started to make an adjustment there,” Newcomb told reporters, per NESN. “Just kind of more pitch mix. But yeah, they seemed like they were definitely sitting in trying to pull some stuff and then had to spread it out.”

— Boston’s bullpen had been lights out, not surrendering a run over the first 14 innings it worked this season. But that streak came to an end when the Orioles knocked around Justin Slaten and Cooper Criswell for four insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth.

— Tyler O’Neil, who spent one season with the Red Sox, got his first chance to face his former team and delivered a standout performance. The Orioles left fielder went 4-for-4 with one RBI.

— Jarren Duran was an offensive bright spot for the Red Sox. He notched his first triple of the season, which plated two runs, after leading the American League in that category last season. He also had an RBI single in the ninth.

— The Red Sox will get a needed day off before attempting to snap their four-game losing streak. Boston and Baltimore resume the three-game series Wednesday, as Garrett Crochet will be on the mound for his second start in a Red Sox uniform. First pitch from Oriole Park at Camden Yards is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET and you can catch complete coverage on NESN.