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The Boston Red Sox answered a brutal loss with an exciting addition on Saturday, but more changes might be coming soon.
After third baseman Alex Bregman was moved to the injured list with a significant quad injury, the Red Sox immediately brought up top prospect Marcelo Mayer as his replacement. Mayer is one of the highest-ranked youngsters in all of baseball and there’s reason to hope he can keep the team in the race while Bregman recovers.
But the Red Sox had some major roster questions looming even before Bregman went down, and Christopher Kiline of FanSided predicted Mayer’s promotion will lead to another significant shakeup.
“If Mayer performs, there’s a good chance he knocks a different Red Sox vet out of the lineup: Trevor Story,” per Kline. “Based on all the evidence, it’s hard to imagine Mayer not clearing Story’s production right away. … The hope is that Mayer can provide a similar jolt with Bregman out, then translate that into a full-time MLB gig.”
Mayer went 0-4 with three strikeouts in his big-league debut against the Baltimore Orioles, but he was slashing .271/.347/.471 with nine homers in Triple-A before that. Meanwhile, Story has been perhaps the biggest disappointment for an underwhelming Red Sox lineup this season.
In his 10th season, Story has a .227/.272/.335 slash line with an American League leading 62 strikeouts so far. Even if Mayer offers similar production, the upside on giving him as many big-league at-bats as possible would be worth the substitution alone.
“Alex Cora said he’ll mix-and-match the infield, meaning everything is up for grabs,” Sean McAdam reported for MassLive. “Mayer will get playing time at both second and third, and if Trevor Story doesn’t soon reverse his offensive slide, Mayer could find himself as the team’s starting shortstop by the time Bregman returns.”
It seems the starting shortstop job is Mayer’s to land, assuming he can live up to expectations after his debut.
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