Notes: Devers on All-Star path?; Sale throws

At the age of 24, Rafael Devers is somehow playing in his fifth season for the Red Sox.

While he’s hit at a high level since the day he arrived, Devers has taken his game up a notch in terms of the consistent excellence he is displaying so far this season.

At this point, he looks poised to become an All-Star for the first time in his career.

“Yeah, obviously if they select me, it's great but if they don't, then you know, that's, that's fine, too,” Devers said through an interpreter. “I’m just out there trying to be the best version of myself and trying to win ballgames. You know, obviously, if I do get that invite, it's a great accomplishment, but not something that I'm really focused on.”

In typical Devers fashion, he'll let his bat make his All-Star campaign speech.

Entering action on Saturday, Devers was tied for the lead among Major League third basemen in homers (12) while leading the Majors at his position in RBIs (37) and extra-base hits (25). His .588 slugging percentage and .945 OPS trailed only the Cubs' Kris Bryant for tops at the third-base position. He was tied for second at his position in runs and hits.

The only two players in the Majors who started the day with more than the 22 barrels by Devers?

Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr.

Devers has these stellar numbers despite going way out of the strike zone at times and getting himself out.

“Offensively, he is who he is and we like him the way he swings the bat,” said manager Alex Cora. “Sometimes he’s out of control, but we’ll take Raffy the way he goes about his at-bats.”

After struggling on defense earlier in the season, Devers has also cleaned that up and has been playing a solid hot corner.

“Defensively, I know people sometimes take defensive runs saved seriously and sometimes they don’t,” said Cora. “But he’s a +1 right now and if you look at the guys around him that are +1, there are some really interesting names and good defenders right there with Rafael Devers, so we’re very proud of him.”

Sale/Brasier updates
For the Red Sox, it has to be tantalizing to think about how their successful season so far could be enhanced if Chris Sale can make it back at some point in July or beyond.

The ace continues to progress in his rehab from Tommy John surgery.

“Actually, Chris was on the mound this morning,” said Cora. “Him and [Ryan] Brasier. Brasier threw a bullpen. Chris threw a flat ground and got off the mound again so we got the report. ... Everything seemed fine, he was able to repeat his delivery."

The next key step for Sale will be when he starts facing live hitters.

As for Brasier, who hasn’t pitched this season due to a left calf strain, his progress bears watching because of the issues the Red Sox have had with setup relief.

“He’s not that far off,” said Cora. “But I think the next step will be live BP probably. Do that a few times and from there we’ll decide what we’re going to do.

Verdugo will rest in Philly
A day after tweaking his left hamstring and leaving the game after three at-bats, outfielder Alex Verdugo was not in the lineup for the Red Sox on Saturday. It’s likely he won’t play Sunday either.

The Red Sox are off on Monday, so the goal is to get Verdugo back in the lineup for Tuesday’s home game against the Braves.

“We’ll stay away from him [Saturday],” said Cora. “In case of emergency we’ll use him. As you know we have an extra position player, but most likely we’ll stay away from him over the weekend and get him ready for next week.”

Marwin getting beat by heat
Marwin Gonzalez has given the Red Sox a lift with his defensive versatility, but he’s struggled to contribute with his bat (.199 average, .572 OPS). The reason is that he’s getting beaten on fastballs.

“One thing that he’s been fighting is catching up with the fastball,” Cora said. “He has a game plan. But it feels like … I don’t want to say he’s afraid, but he’s conscious that he’s not catching up with it. So he doesn’t want to buy into what he’s thinking or what he’s seeing, you know what I mean?"

The addition of Danny Santana will give Cora the opportunity to pick his spots a little more with Gonzalez.

“This is the toughest stretch for him with the strikeouts. It’s been tough. One thing for sure, he’s such an asset in every other aspect of the game that we’ll play him. Most likely he’ll play second tomorrow. He understands where we’re at right now. It’s not that we’re going to unplug him, but we’re going to help him out to get some matchups that favor him. But he’ll get out of it.”