{"id":481000,"date":"2026-02-21T01:58:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T01:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/481000\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T01:58:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T01:58:07","slug":"alex-cora-issues-challenge-to-marcelo-mayer-ahead-of-red-sox-opening-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/481000\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Cora issues challenge to Marcelo Mayer ahead of Red Sox Opening Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2013 Amidst ongoing evaluations of the Red Sox infield options<\/a>, manager Alex Cora simultaneously hinted at the preferred position for Marcelo Mayer<\/a> and issued him a strongly-worded challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he wants to be the starting second baseman in Cincinnati, there\u2019s a lot of work to do,\u201d Cora said Friday morning. \u201cIt\u2019s not a given that he\u2019s second baseman or third baseman for this team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Red Sox selected Mayer, now 23, with the fourth overall pick in the 2021 MLB draft, their highest selection in decades. He\u2019s a natural shortstop, but his path to playing there in the majors was blocked first by Xander Bogaerts, who opted out of his contract after the 2022 season, and now by Trevor Story, who signed a six-year free-agent deal with Boston before the \u201822 season and played second until Bogaerts departed. Story opted into the remaining two years of his contract last fall.<\/p>\n

Mayer made his long-awaited debut late last May<\/a>, as a roster replacement for injured third baseman Alex Bregman. With Bregman sidelined, Mayer played 39 games and 248 2\/3 total innings at third, including 28 starts and 20 complete games. His covered second for eight games (57 innings) and subbed in at shortstop for three innings between two contests.<\/p>\n

It was an impressive adjustment for Mayer, whose minor league career included just six games and 48 1\/3 innings of third-base experience. The issue was his bat, particularly against\u00a0left-handed pitching. He hit .248 with a .739 OPS in 109 plate appearances against righties, but managed just .154 and a .416 OPS in 27 PAs against southpaws. Cora also kept Mayer, and select other players, including Wilyer Abreu, away from lefties at certain points last season, something he doesn\u2019t plan to do as much this year.<\/p>\n

There were a few offensive highlights, such as Mayer\u2019s first career home run<\/a>, at Yankee Stadium last June, but on the whole his offensive performance wasn\u2019t what he or the Red Sox expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wasn\u2019t great offensively last year,\u201d the manager said bluntly. \u201cHe\u2019ll be the first one to tell you that. Defensively, he was excellent. Base-running-wise, he\u2019s really good. But offensively, there\u2019s more. We know that, but he has to show he can handle this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayer has spent most of camp working at second base, while newcomer Caleb Durbin<\/a>, one of three infielders acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers early last week, primarily manned third. While Durbin underwent a last-minute root canal Friday morning, Mayer slid over to the hot corner.<\/p>\n

But in addition to Romy Gonzalez, whose lingering shoulder ailment from last season will likely keep him from the Opening Day roster, the Red Sox have 2020 Gold Glove winner Brendan Rodgers in camp on a minor league deal, and the switch-hitting utility-man Nick Sogard. Other infield options on the 40-man roster include Kristian Campbell, Tsung-Che Cheng, Isiah Kiner-Falefa<\/a>, Andruw Monasterio and Anthony Seigler.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things that he needs to show us this spring, and we expect him to do that because he\u2019s that talented,\u201d Cora said, \u201cbut at the same time, there\u2019s a lot of guys here that can do the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAC made it clear that I\u2019m still looking for a job,\u201d Mayer told MLB\u2019s Ian Browne. \u201cSo wherever it is they need me to play, that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Durability is also a notable concern for Mayer and the Red Sox. He suffered injuries<\/a> in each of the last four seasons, to his wrist (2022, 2025), shoulder (2023), back (2022, 2024) and lumbar (2024). In August 2024, he told the Herald he was surprised to be promoted<\/a> to Triple-A Worcester alongside fellow top prospects Roman Anthony and Kyle Teel. Mayer was on the Double-A injured list at the time, and ultimately missed the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

Mayer underwent season-ending right wrist arthroscopy last August, and as a result is slightly behind fellow position players as he reacclimates his wrist to hitting through live batting practice and the Trajekt machine. He\u2019s expected to make his Grapefruit League debut next week.<\/p>\n

Cora\u2019s statements may be the most strongly-worded so far, but challenging Mayer dates back to the early weeks of the offseason. The Red Sox tasked him with building strength during the offseason, in hopes it would help his body better withstand the rigors of a full season, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow explained on more than one occasion in recent months.<\/p>\n

Mayer reported to camp noticeably bigger and stronger. Step 1, complete.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a chance to come into camp and compete and show us what he\u2019s capable of doing,\u201d Breslow said last week. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of excitement around him for a long time and we\u2019re looking forward for that to come out in his play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rest is up to Mayer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll give him the baton,\u201d Cora said, \u201cbut he has to run.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2013 Amidst ongoing evaluations of the Red Sox infield options, manager Alex Cora simultaneously hinted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[47415,374,61737,363,99,63077],"class_list":["post-481000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-alex-cora","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-marcelo-mayer","tag-mlb","tag-sports","tag-spring-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}