A month ago Red Sox manager Alex Cora issued a public challenge to Marcelo Mayer.
“If he wants to be the starting second baseman in Cincinnati, there’s a lot of work to do,” Cora said during the first week of camp. “It’s not a given that he’s second baseman or third baseman for this team. … He wasn’t great offensively last year. He’ll be the first one to tell you that. Defensively, he was excellent. Base-running-wise, he’s really good. But offensively, there’s more. We know that, but he has to show he can handle this.”
On Saturday, Mayer found out his hard work paid off. The 23-year-old infielder will make his first big-league Opening Day roster, as the Red Sox starting second baseman.
“Marcelo is going to be our second baseman. He did an amazing job in the offseason,” Cora told reporters at JetBlue Park on Saturday. “He’s stronger now. He can play second. He can play short. He can play third. … Just a good defender, a good player, and I’m excited about him.”
In 2021 Red Sox drafted Mayer fourth overall, tied with left-hander Ken Brett (1966) for their second-highest selection in franchise history behind third-overall pick Mike Garman in 1967. After years of anticipation, Mayer debuted last May as a roster replacement for injured third baseman Alex Bregman.
In 44 games before a season-ending wrist injury and eventual surgery, Mayer impressed with his versatile defense; a natural shortstop, he primarily played third (248 2/3 innings), but spent time at second (57 innings) and played three innings at short.
As the Red Sox evaluated several second and third base options early in camp, veteran shortstop Trevor Story expressed hope that he’d know who his infield partners were going to be as soon as possible.
“Ideally you’d like to get a full spring camp in with the infield unit as we have, just to go over communication style and what guys like,” Story said at the time. “But yeah, hopefully sooner rather than later. And I think it’s just better for everybody.”
Five weeks later, the infield is set: Caleb Durbin at third, Story at shortstop, Mayer at second, and Willson Contreras at first.
Standout defense made Mayer a strong roster contender all along, but the Red Sox were serious about making him earn it. They tasked him with getting stronger during the offseason and improving his plate discipline, particularly his swing decisions, and were pleased with the results.
Mayer slashed .228/.272/.402 with 29 hits, eight doubles, four home runs, 20 runs and 10 RBI in his debut season. He drew eight walks (5.9 BB%) and struck out 41 times (30.1 SO%), both significantly worse rates than league average. Had he qualified for MLB’s percentile rankings, his chase and whiff rates would have been well below average, his strikeout rate almost in the cellar.
Entering Saturday Mayer is only hitting .214 with a .710 OPS, but the improvement the Red Sox wanted to see is evident. Through 11 Grapefruit League games, he’s drawn as many walks as he did in his rookie year.
“I wanted to push him,” said Cora. “Nothing is given here.”
Red Sox roster moves
With Opening Day on Thursday, the roster decisions are getting more difficult.
The Red Sox optioned Kristian Campbell to minor league camp Saturday.
Left-hander Alec Gamboa and righties Tayron Guerrero and Kyle Keller were reassigned to minor league camp. Likewise for catcher Jason Delay, infielder Vinnie Capra, and outfielder Braiden Ward, though they will remain in big-league spring training.