Marcelo

Mayer

Mayer took Raisel Iglesias deep in the fourth inning. The Red Sox have made it clear that Mayer isn’t promised anything this spring, though they’d surely prefer he claimed the second base job for himself. Otherwise, they’d likely turn to Isiah Kiner-Falefa at that spot initially.

Mayer has battled injuries throughout his minor league career, so his goal for the offseason was to add explosiveness but also overall strength to withstand the grind of an MLB season. Part of that offseason training was working out at Trevor Story’s camp, where Mayer “beat both Story and Jarren Duran, two of the fastest players on the team,” in 60-foot races. “Speed was such a big part of my game when I was a little kid,” Mayer said. “That’s the way that I love to play. I love to play hard, I love to run, I love to steal bases, take that extra bag, and I felt it was just a good opportunity to get after it so I could start playing like that again.” Mayer is also currently 220 pounds, which is the most he’d every weighed, and spent the offseason working on his swing mechanics to cut down on his strikeouts. At just 23 years old, Mayer could be in line for a productive season as a full-time player for the Red Sox.

Once again, Roman Anthony is in the leadoff spot, he’s just serving as the designated hitter while Jarren Duran patrols the outfield. The only difference between Sunday’s lineup and what the team had been expected to use on Opening Day is Isiah Kiner-Falefa is in there at second base while Marcelo Mayer is riding the pine. He really will need to earn his spot this spring. Here’s the full lineup for Sunday: Roman Anthony (DH), Trevor Story (SS), Jarren Duran (LF), Willson Contreras (1B), Wilyer Abreu (RF), Caleb Durbin (3B), Ceddanne Rafaela (CF), Carlos Narvaez (C), Isiah Kiner-Falefa (2B).

“I think I won’t be playing for a few days,” Mayer told reporters. “I’ve still got to take some live BPs, hit off the Trajekt, a little bit, kind of get my wrist exposed to that stuff.” Mayer did note that his wrist is in a “great spot,” but it’s understandable that the team wants to take every precaution with the 23-year-old after he underwent wrist season in August. Mayer is more of a long-term play for fantasy players, but his talent makes him a player that’s worth monitoring for 2026 as well.

Everything went really, really well in terms of recovery,” added Breslow. “He’s doing really well, stronger, he’s put on some weight. He looks more physical.” The 22-year-old former top prospect, who underwent wrist surgery back in August, is the odds-on favorite to open next season as Boston’s starting third baseman assuming they’re unable to re-sign veteran Alex Bregman. He batted just .228/.272/.402 with four homers in 136 plate appearances over 44 games, but it’s simply too small of a sample to draw any firm conclusions, especially given his prospect pedigree. He’ll enter spring training at just 23 years old and represents an interesting buy-low candidate for fantasy managers in dynasty formats.

Mayer is out for the year after undergoing wrist surgery last month, but he should be at full strength for 2026 and serve as a starter somewhere in Boston’s infield.

Mayer’s surgery was performed by Dr. Matthew Leibman at Mass General-Brigham Hospital. The 22-year-old will likely miss the remainder of the season while having a chance to help the Red Sox at the start of 2026.

This was always a potential outcome from the moment Mayer hit the injured list back in late July with a wrist sprain. Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters Sunday that the 22-year-old prospect simply hasn’t bounced back as expected from a recent cortisone injection and will require a surgical procedure. There should be a definitive return timeline at some point in the coming weeks, but early indications are that Mayer will be a full-go in time for spring training.

This is the beginning of Mayer resuming baseball activities. The 22-year-old rookie received a cortisone injection a week ago and now will begin the process of testing out how his wrist responds to that before determining whether or not he can continue to play this season. Off-season wrist surgery may be in the cards regardless, but Red Sox fans and fantasy managers would love to see Mayer get back on the field before the end of this season.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora didn’t have much information to offer prior to Sunday’s game against the Giants. The 22-year-old former top prospect received an injection in his sprained right wrist last weekend and remains without a return timeline.