Would it be hard for Rafael Devers to learn to play first? Alex Cora and Kevin Youkilis say yes, Mike Lowell says no

Boston Globe

15-05-2025

Red Sox manager Alex Cora forged a 14-year big league career primarily on the strength of his middle infield defense. He averaged one error every 69 innings at shortstop, and one every 105 innings at second base.
But in 21 career big league innings at first base, he made three errors, and sounded scarred by the experience when recalling his first exposure at the position in the final three innings of a 14-0 Red Sox loss to the Braves in 2007.
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'It's very hard. I can tell you by experience,' said Cora. 'I played [21] innings [at first] in my big league career, made three errors, and one of them was a ground ball with [a] man at first. I went all the way to the right. [Dustin] Pedroia was right there. I bobbled it, then I threw it away. It's just, it's hard. It's very hard.'
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Kevin Youkilis broke into the big leagues as a third baseman in 2004, but got experience playing first and second in the minors while shuttling between Triple A and the big leagues in 2005. He then got a full spring training at first base entering the 2006 season, which he viewed as critical.
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'It's really hard. It's not as easy of a transition as people think. There's a lot of different scenarios that you have to go through and you have to get a lot of reps in order to get good at it,' said Youkilis. 'There's a learning curve.'
Central to the transition, Youkilis noted, was the need to rethink when to pursue a grounder — whether to try to get it or cede it to a second baseman while racing to cover first. But there's also a need to learn a different body angle on throws to second, learn how infielders' throws move (tail or sail, for instance), how to handle more complicated cutoff and relay responsibilities, as well as the ability to handle pickoffs.
Cora noted with some discomfort the big league crash courses undertaken in recent years by Franchy Cordero and Kyle Schwarber to learn first base.
'We've been through that act before, moving people around, playing guys at first base that had never played first base,' said Cora. 'It wasn't good.'
But another former Red Sox saw the matter differently, noting that the increased time to make plays at first would cut down on errors that arise from rushing throws.
'Are there nuances at first base? Absolutely,' Mike Lowell, a Gold Glover at third in 2004 who moved to first for the final year of his career in 2010, said on the '310 to Left' podcast. 'There are things absolutely they need to learn at first base, but I don't think it's anything so complicated that [Devers] can't do it. I think he's totally capable of doing it.'
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The timetable
How long would it take a third baseman to become a capable first baseman? Lowell answered by holding up two fingers.
Two years? Two months? Two weeks?
'Two days,' Lowell said. '[Devers] could do it in two days. I think he's good enough.'
Lowell, who worked with Devers at third base in past spring trainings, clarified that it would take Devers longer than that to learn the full array of nuances. That said, he remains convinced that Devers could become competent enough to handle first in games in just two days.
Youkilis — who won a Gold Glove at first in 2007, his second full season at the position — disagreed.
'I think Raffy can be a good first baseman, but it takes a lot of time and work to make that transition if you've never played there. It's not something that you can be just thrown in the mix,' said Youkilis. 'While I do think Raffy can make that change, I also understand it's really hard in-season to make that change.'
Youkilis described the importance of a full spring training — infield and outfield drills, as well as repetitions in exhibition games — as critical.
'Spring training is the best time to make that transition, because you do make mistakes, and you want to make those mistakes, because that's how you learn,' he said.
Could Devers do it?
Not many third basemen have become elite at first. Since 1980, Youkilis, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Albert Pujols are the only players whose primary position was third base at the start of their big league careers who emerged as Gold Glove first basemen.
Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. successfully made the transition from third base to first base.
Chris O'Meara/Associated Press
That said, if Devers and the Red Sox reach the conclusion that he will try playing first, the goal would be competence rather than a Gold Glove-caliber defender.
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While they disagree on the time needed to get up to game speed, Lowell and Youkilis believe Devers can surpass that baseline standard. Indeed, there are reasons to think he could not only be functional but well suited to first base.
'If Raffy does make that transition, which a lot of people thought he was going to do anyways, ends up at first, I actually think he could be a plus defender,' said Lowell. 'The reason why I think he could be good, his hands are good. I think the main thing with Raffy for me when I look at him getting in trouble defensively is, I think it's his footwork, and I think his arm angle drops [on throws].
'Can he be above average? Yeah. It's not going to take two days [to be above average]. I think it's going to be a little bit more. But that process, I think, is shorter than people think. There are things absolutely he'd need to learn at first base, but I don't think it's anything so complicated that he can't do. I think he's totally capable of doing it.'
Alex Speier can be reached at