Rafael Devers historically hasn’t been a good defensive third basemen. He’s consistently ranked among the worst performers at the position and last year led all MLB third basemen with 19 errors.

Though Red Sox manager Alex Cora recognizes Devers needs to improve, he believes the young All-Star still has plenty of room to grow, and Sunday he tossed out a lofty comparison between Devers and recent Hall of Fame-elect Adrian Beltre.

“There’s a Hall of Famer now, one of the greatest third basemen in the big leagues, he makes 13, 29 and 23 (errors) in his first three years, and he’s probably one of the best defensive third basemen in the history of the game, and I saw it happen and I saw how hard it was for him to not make errors, then all of a sudden it became easy for him,” Cora said. “I’m not saying we have the next Adrian Beltre, hopefully we do, but if we look back at Raffy’s career, shoot man, it’s been a great start.”

Cora said Devers possesses the athleticism, arm and instincts to thrive at the hot corner, but his Achilles heel has always been his mental approach. When Devers commits an error he’s often had trouble putting it behind him, and as a result one error can sometimes snowball into three or four in quick succession.

To help avoid similar issues this year, Cora said they’re going to make a point to help him reset when errors inevitably happen.

“The most important thing here is the way he attacks the day after that happens and the people we have here, the support system,” Cora said. “We’re going to be more proactive in that sense to help him deal with those struggles.”

One way the Red Sox might do that is by giving Devers the next day off his feet as a designated hitter, but Cora said Devers dislikes DHing and the club would rather do it to keep him fresh than for defensive reasons. Cora said Devers will likely DH a lot during spring training to ensure he gets enough at bats, and once the season begins he’ll get extra time off his feet due to the early West Coast trip and subsequent run of day games at Fenway Park.

But big picture, Cora is confident in Devers’ talents and believes playing next to Trevor Story for a full season will help a lot too. Even if he’s not expecting Devers to immediately blossom into a Gold Glover, he’s confident the 27-year-old can take the next step, much like Beltre did two decades ago.

“Hopefully we can get him to be average or a little bit above average,” Cora said. “If we do that we’re going to be in a good spot.”