Red Sox Insiders Make Conflicting Marcelo Mayer Roster Predictions

Is Marcelo Mayer's spot on the Boston Red Sox's opening day roster truly in jeopardy, or was manager Alex Cora's message last week more of a symbolic wake-up call?

Last week, Cora said Mayer had "a lot of work to do" if he wanted to be in the starting lineup when the Red Sox begin the regular season on March 25 against the Cincinnati Reds. It was an understandable sentiment, as the 23-year-old struggled offensively in his 44-game debut last year, and has an extensive injury history at this point.

In Wednesday's Boston Globe Red Sox roster projection, insider Peter Abraham turned some heads among Red Sox fans by predicting Mayer would start the season in Triple-A. However, a fellow insider believes much more strongly that the challenge to Mayer wasn't quite so stiff.

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How much work does Mayer truly have to do?

Jul 11, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox third base Marcelo Mayer (39) hits a double to drive in a run against the Tampa Bay Rays in the fourth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

On Thursday, Chris Cotillo of MassLive asserted that it would be a "surprise" for Mayer not to be in the starting lineup in the opener against the Reds as part of his own roster projection.

"Cora’s challenge to Mayer regarding winning a spot likely won’t prevent him from breaking camp with the team," wrote Cotillo. "Barring a surprise, the starting infield will consist of Contreras, Mayer, Story and Durbin in some form — with others getting starts against left-handed pitchers."

The interesting thing about the timing of these projections is that Mayer has yet to actually appear in a spring training game. As part of his recovery from wrist surgery late last season, he's building up slowly and taking extra days to just hit off the Trajekt machine.

So we can read into things as much as we want, but it seems as though those with boots on the ground in Red Sox camp aren't quite on the same page about the club's plan at this point. Which might signal that the plan is somewhere on the spectrum between fully formed and not being a plan at all.

Either way, as Mayer ramps up to play his first game on Friday, time will be the only sure marker of progress on an answer emerging.