The Boston Red Sox have serious questions to answer about their former top prospect Marcelo Mayer. His injury concerns have been getting in the way of his true potential, and it's a cause for alarm.
Writing him off immediately due to his injuries is foolish and knee-jerk, but it's still something to consider given his young age. His injury history started back in 2022, when he suffered a TFCC (triangular fibrocartilage complex) injury. He ended up needing surgery, and it prematurely ended his season. Only a year or so after being drafted fourth overall in 2021 and playing in his debut season, he was put on the shelf.
He would return in 2023 and would have a healthy season. However, injuries flared up again in 2024. On July 30th that year, he was taken out of his AA Portland game for lower back tightness. While he was supposed to return to the field in a short amount of time, the Red Sox called him (along with Roman Anthony and Kyle Teel) up to AAA Worcester.
Time Is Slowly Running Out for Former Top Red Sox Prospect Marcelo Mayer
However, he would be re-diagnosed, and it would turn out to be a lumbar strain. He would miss the rest of the season because of it. Now, in 2025, he was brought up to the Red Sox roster in late May, much to his mixed results on the field. This season, he's batting .228, hitting four home runs, with 10 RBIs, a .402 slugging percentage, 29 hits, eight doubles, and one triple. He was slowly improving, even hitting two home runs in a game at Fenway Park.
Unfortunately for him, he was then taken out of the game due to a wrist injury. It's the same wrist that he got surgery on back in 2022, and the doctors evaluating him had made surgery an option for him. But Mayer was dedicated to getting back on the field, so he took a cortisone shot to reduce the swelling and is now resuming baseball activities, now active off the IL.
Where would they put him when Mayer returns? A possible bench bat, limiting the movements with his wrist? It's an ideal presumption, and it could very well be the case with how well Romy Gonzalez has been hitting, along with Alex Bregman returning at third base.
If Mayer were to play, he would likely be platooning with Romy at first base, playing against right-handed pitching. Knowing how Alex Cora operates, that would most likely be the case here. What could also be a possibility is Mayer getting wrist surgery after the season is over. Let's hope he won't have a setback, because the Red Sox will need all the help they can get down the stretch.