KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Friday’s meeting between John Henry and Rafael Devers has yet to produce any results.
Manager Alex Cora was asked Saturday if anything had changed with Devers, who refused a request from chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to replace injured Triston Casas at first base.
“He’s DH’ing today,” Cora said.
Will he start taking grounders at first base?
“No,” responded the manager.
Henry, who also owns the Globe, made an unexpected visit to Kauffman Stadium to talk to Devers about his unwillingness to play first base. Cora, who took part in the discussion, said afterward that it was “productive.”
But a day later, Devers remains recalcitrant. He declined interview requests Friday and Saturday.
“We’re talking. We had a good conversation [Friday],” Cora said. “We’re going to keep having some conversations.”
Devers balked at moving from third base to DH after Alex Bregman was signed during spring training. Over time, Cora was able to convince Devers to make the switch.
Moving to first base could play out the same way, with the marked difference being that the Sox are now playing games that count as they wait for Devers to come around.
With Romy Gonzalez going on the injured list, the Sox will use utility players Nick Sogard and Abraham Toro as a platoon at first base.
Sogard was recalled from Triple A Worcester before the game on Saturday when Gonzalez was placed on the injured list with a bruised left quad.
“We’ll keep looking for alternatives, what we need to do to keep getting better,” Cora said.
Cora does not expect any other call-ups in the coming days.
“Where we’re at right now, obviously, we’re in a good spot, the manager said. “I know there’s a lot of guys playing well [in Worcester] but feel very comfortable where we’re at here.”
Pedroia takes it in
Dustin Pedroia was on the field before the game with his family. With his three sons having a rare weekend off without any games, they decided to catch the Sox for two games.
Kansas City star Bobby Witt Jr. idolized Pedroia growing up. Now his sons — Dylan, Cole, and Brooks — are huge fans of Witt.
Pedroia, 41, was happy to see pitching coach Andrew Bailey and NESN’s Will Middlebrooks at the ballpark. All three were members of the 2013 World Series team.
Jason Varitek gave Pedroia a glove and invited him to participate in the daily game of flip some of the players and coaches play.
Pedroia gave the glove to Cole and let him play. He stood back and shot some video with his phone.
Refsnyder hurting
Rob Refsnyder has not played since May 1 because of back spasms. But he has improved in recent days and remains on the roster.
“I’m getting there,” Refsnyder said. “It’s a lot better.”
The Sox are lined up to face two prominent lefthanders in the coming days — Tarik Skubal of the Tigers and Chris Sale of the Braves — and Refsnyder expects to be ready for those games.
But he was not available against Kansas City lefty Cole Ragans on Saturday.
“He’s running, feeling a lot better,” Cora said. “We’ll work on it. He’ll keep getting treatment. He’ll be ready for Detroit.”
Walker Buehler, out with a sore shoulder, could return for the series against the Mets that starts on May 19, Cora said. The righthander last pitched in a game on April 26.
Buehler is expected to throw off the mound in the next few days.
Masataka Yoshida remains on hold after receiving a cortisone shot in his right shoulder. Maybe he’s shopping for a first baseman’s mitt.
Zeroing in
Red Sox pitchers went 19 innings without giving up a run before the Royals scored in the 10th inning on Friday night . . . Sox hitters went 12 innings without drawing a walk on Friday. They had not managed that in a game since June 13, 2013, a 5-4 loss in 13 innings against Baltimore at Camden Yards. Before that it was in 1993. . .Through Friday, Justin Slaten had faced 27 consecutive batters without registering a strikeout. He attributed it to pitching to contact.
Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him @PeteAbe.
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