he Boston Red Sox are right in the middle of the wild card race in the American League. They got Masataka Yoshida back on Wednesday and are expecting Alex Bregman to play two games this weekend against the Tampa Bay Rays, according to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo.
With Bregman’s return, Marcelo Mayer’s role on the team becomes a question. Mayer has a .761 OPS against right-handed pitching, but just a .417 OPS against southpaws. According to MassLive’s Sean McAdam, the team is considering sending Mayer down to Triple-A Worcester when Bregman is activated.
“There’s been at least some discussion internally that Mayer could benefit from more regular playing time at Worcester,” reported McAdam. “Notably, when (Alex) Cora was asked Tuesday whether he expected Mayer to move to second base upon Bregman’s return, he evaded the question and said that was something to be discussed later. Mayer hasn’t yet demonstrated that he can hit lefthanded pitching at the big league level. With Bregman returning, Mayer’s options would be limited to second base (and backup shortstop) with Bregman reclaiming full-time third base duties.”
David Hamilton and Romy Gonzalez have handled second base since Kristian Campbell was sent down. Campbell figures to be a part of the Red Sox’s plans down the line, so when he fixes his own issues in Triple-A, he should reclaim the second base job.
Trevor Story has played much better since the calendar flipped to June, so taking him out for Mayer is out of the question. Since June 1, Story is slashing .311/.341/.561 with eight home runs. Sending Mayer down may be what’s best for him, but Cora is not making any decisions until Bregman is back, per Cotillo.
