Red Sox fans torn between Alex Bregman's blow and Marcelo Mayer's debut hype

Offseason acquisition Alex Bregman has been one of the Boston Red Sox's most productive offensive players this season. The 31-year-old is hitting .299 along with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs.

The two-time World Series champion picked up a quad injury during the team's 19-5 win against the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, raising concern amongst fans about who'll replace the third baseman.

It appears skipper Alex Cora has turned to young Marcelo Mayer, one of the Red Sox's most promising young infielders. So far this season, Mayer is batting .271 with nine home runs and 43 RBIs at Triple-A level.

One of the first to break the news about Mayer's imminent promotion was insider Jeff Passan, who posted about it on X (formerly Twitter).

"The Boston Red Sox are calling up infielder Marcelo Mayer, one of the top prospects in baseball, sources tell ESPN," Passan wrote. "With Alex Bregman injured, Boston needs infield help, and the 22-year-old Mayer -- who's hitting .271/.347/.471 at Triple-A -- will get the first shot at his ABs."

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Reacting to the news, plenty of fans appeared to be happy at one of the organization's most talented youngsters finally getting his shot at the highest level.

"This kid is so talented" a fan wrote

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"Time for the kids to play." another fan commented

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"Ayeee solid move 👀" another fan replied

Others, meanwhile, appeared to be quite disappointed to see Bregman pick up an injury.

"Bregman being out sucks bc he’s been BALLING" another fan responded

"Guess this solidifies Bregman to IL" another fan shared

"Red Sox fans do realize it’s better to have Bregman and Meyer in the lineup rather than just Meyer, right ? This means Bregman IL." another fan posted

Alex Bregman about Marcelo Mayer's quality at the Red Sox spring training camp

Having arrived in Boston as a free agent, Alex Bregman and Marcelo Mayer played together at the Red Sox's spring training camp in Fort Myers, Florida, before the regular season began.

Speaking about the youngster's quality, the two-time All-Star said:

"He (Marcelo Mayer) is a hell of a player all around, swinging the bat, and he’s so fluid defensively. He’s always in rhythm catching the ball, and physical. Just an all-around baseball player. Loves to play. Grinder."

As Mayer finally gets his big chance to shine, fans will hope the youngster can show some of his undoubted quality at the biggest stage.

About the author

Raghav Mehta is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda awaiting results for a Bachelor's in Journalism from Delhi University. He enjoys highlighting the key battles between players at different stages of the game and analyzing the decisive moments upon which they hinge.

One of Raghav's favorite moments, which underscores this, was the Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout clash in the 2023 WBC, where two of baseball's best players faced off against each other in the 9th inning. With the score 3-2 to Japan, Shohei eventually got the strikeout, which was absolute cinema.

Raghav is a Baltimore Orioles fan and is enjoying watching such an exciting young team compete at the top in a very competitive division.

Raghav has loved watching sports for as long as he can remember and realized he was pretty decent at writing his thoughts down at around the age of 14. Combining the two meant he had something he would enjoy doing every day, and he had identified that well before going to college.

Aside from work, Raghav enjoys playing sports, working out and watching movies.

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Edited by Krutik Jain