Red Sox Place Marcelo Mayer On IL; Ceddanne Rafaela To Play More Second Base

The Red Sox announced today that infielder Marcelo Mayer has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to July 24th, with a right wrist sprain. Infielder David Hamilton has been recalled as the corresponding move.

At this point, the severity of Mayer’s sprain is still being determined. “We’re gathering information,” Álex Cora responded when asked if surgery was a consideration, per Tim Healey of The Boston Globe. “We’ll get more over the weekend, during the week. Whenever we get to the point to see what’s going to happen, we’ll let you know.”

Time will tell if Mayer is facing a brief absence or an extended one. While the Sox surely don’t want Mayer to miss any time, there is a silver lining of his absence, as it seems it will help out a bit with their outfield logjam. Cora told reporters, including Chris Cotillo of MassLive, that the club will frequently have Ceddanne Rafaela at second base. That will lead to a regular outfield alignment of Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu, with Masataka Yoshida as the designated hitter.

The outfield picture, and the position player group in general, has been cluttered for most of the season. The Sox signed Alex Bregman in the winter and put him at third base, moving Rafael Devers to the designated hitter spot. That left Yoshida stuck on the IL, even though he was healthy enough to hit. His shoulder hadn’t recovered enough from offseason surgery to throw, so he couldn’t play the field. Anthony was also blocked, since the club had Duran, Rafaela and Abreu in the outfield.

A lot has changed since earlier in the year. The relationship between the team and Devers soured, which led to him being traded to the Giants. That opened up the DH spot for Yoshida. Anthony came up while Abreu had an oblique strain and has quickly found big league success. Abreu eventually returned from the IL, which jammed things up a bit again. It left four outfielders and Yoshida jockeying for four lineup spots.

Rafaela has some middle infield experience but the Sox seemed reluctant to move him there, which was understandable since he’s actually an elite defensive center fielder, whereas Duran’s glovework may be better suited to left field. More recently, they have softened that stance, with Rafaela taking the keystone here and there with Duran in center.

It now seems that could be the regular alignment for as long as Mayer is out. Perhaps it’s not ideal defensively but it will get the Sox out of…