{"id":114901,"date":"2026-02-27T23:32:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T04:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=114901"},"modified":"2026-02-27T23:32:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T04:32:39","slug":"red-sox-opening-day-concerns-does-marcelo-mayer-fit-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/02\/27\/red-sox-opening-day-concerns-does-marcelo-mayer-fit-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox Opening Day Concerns: Does Marcelo Mayer Fit In?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many MLB clubs, early on in spring training, start to get a good look at wide open positions and see who the standouts are at their positions, and ican often lead to dilemmas on who to start. For the Boston Red Sox, there could be an argument for the outfield<\/a>, although manager Alex Cora<\/a> seems to have a plan to make it work. A major concern at the moment is the left-handed pitching in the bullpen,<\/a> although that could be taken care of later. But the big talk around Red Sox camp currently surrounds former top prospect Marcelo Mayer<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The
Jun 18, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Marcelo Mayer (39) throws to first base for an out against the Seattle Mariners during the eighth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Originally, all signs pointed to Mayer being a future star in the infield at a permanent spot. He was part of the \u201cCore 4\u201d along with teammates Roman Anthony<\/a>, Kristian Campbell<\/a>, and former teammate Kyle Teel<\/a>. But when he came up, the former shortstop was moved to third base when Alex Bregman<\/a> went down. Splitting time with Abraham Toro<\/a>, offensively, Mayer had a disappointing slash line of .228\/.272\/.402 in 44 games. Defensively, though, he did fine. He had two errors in 308 2\/3 innings across second, third, and shortstop.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Does Marcelo Mayer Fit on the Red Sox Roster?\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

Recently, however, there have been questions about Mayer’s spot, to the extent that his making the Opening Day roster<\/a> is up for debate. Now, these questions are not his fault. After all, he was just a rookie last year and just turned 23 in December. But, given the departure of Bregman and also the uncertainty of who the second baseman would be, Boston invested some money into the infield, acquiring Caleb Durbin<\/a> and Andruw Monasterio<\/a> in trades, and signing Isiah-Kiner Falefa<\/a>. These players joined a group that included Campbell and the injured Romy Gonzalez<\/a>. Now, while Durbin is projected to start at third, and Gonzalez is more seen as a utility guy who mainly plays second, there\u2019s still good competition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Newcomers\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

Andruw Monasterio<\/b><\/h3>\n

When looking at the stats side by side, Monasterio is actually a perfect player to compare against, seeing as they had a similar amount of plate appearances despite Monasterio playing in 24 more games. Hitting-wise, they were pretty similar, both hit four home runs (and 14 extra base hits), and were within 5 or 6 of each other for hits and RBI. Mayer had one more walk as well. But when you get into the averages, it\u2019s clear where the separation is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n