The Red Sox announced that shortstop Marcelo Mayer has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a bone stress reaction to the left ulna. Infielder Tsung-Che Cheng has been recalled as the corresponding move. Mayer says he has been dealing with the issue for two months, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.
It’s an unfortunate development for a few different reasons. For Mayer personally, it interrupts an opportunity to establish himself as a viable big league shortstop. Due to the presence of Trevor Story, he had mostly been limited to playing second and third base. Story required sports hernia surgery in May and was slated for an absence of two months or so. The Sox decided to give Mayer a chance to play there. He got about a month of regular playing time at short but is now joining Story on the IL.
For the club, it’s yet another blow to their middle infield depth. Mayer isn’t having a great season on the whole, currently sporting a .220/.282/.312 batting line, perhaps because of this arm issue. Regardless, the Sox still don’t want to see more bodies piling up. Middle infielders Story, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Romy González and Nick Sogard were already on the IL and now Mayer puts one more name on that list.
Manager Chad Tracy told reporters, including Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, that Cheng will see a lot of time at shortstop. Cheng’s reputation is that of a glove-first infielder. He should provide the Sox a sure hand at short but the bat could be light. He has a solid .254/.351/.424 line on the farm this year but slashed .207/.305/.267 last year and only has seven big league plate appearances under his belt.
The Sox are 33-46 on the year. That only puts them five games back of a playoff spot in the weak American League playoff field but they are trending towards a deadline selloff if they don’t string some wins together. As mentioned, Mayer hasn’t been putting up big numbers this year, but it’s still another punch to the gut as the club is trying to keep the season from spinning out of control.
Photo courtesy of Dale Zanine, Imagn Images
