Red Sox rookie still looking for answers on ‘super annoying' wrist injury, return timeline
Mayer had an MRI on Thursday, when the Red Sox were off. He knows he has a sprain and has his wrist in a brace but isn't sure if it's a severe case or when he'll be back.
'I know it's a wrist sprain,' Mayer said. 'The doctor is going to come in and have more conversations. I'll know more about it later today.
'I got an MRI yesterday, talked to the hand specialist. Still pretty early in the talking stages so not really too sure yet and can't really give you many answers.'
Mayer did say his injury is not related to the hamate bone, the small hook-shaped bone on the lower outside edge of the hand that baseball players often break on swings. He does not believe anything is broken. Mayer's injury occurred in the fifth inning Wednesday when he was in the process of working a two-out walk that ended up being the start of Jesús Luzardo's wild woes before the Phillies lefty gave up a game-changing grand slam to Romy Gonzalez.
'It didn't feel good. I just took a swing,' Mayer said. 'I took a check-swing my first at-bat and felt my wrist. Didn't think much of it. Was able to throw the ball fine. My second at-bat, the second swing, I just felt my wrist lock up.'
The Red Sox called up David Hamilton to fill Mayer's roster spot the bulk of playing time at second base will likely go to Ceddanne Rafaela (with Hamilton and the lefty-mashing Gonzalez mixing in as well). Mayer only has made seven starts at second since debuting in May but was expected to play there quite often with Alex Bregman now a full-go to play every day at third base.
Mayer has had an up-and-down rookie campaign that, if the injury is serious enough, might be over. He hit .228 with four homers, eight doubles, 10 RBIs and a .674 (while sitting against most lefties) but was a solid contributor on defense at both second and third base. The 22-year-old couldn't help but show his frustration as he stood in the clubhouse before Friday's game.
'It's brutal,' said Mayer. 'This is not a spot I want to be in. I want to be out there playing, trying to help the team win. As an athlete, all we want to do is play and go out there and do what we do best. It's super frustrating.'
Making things even more exasperating for Mayer is the fact he has seen seasons end prematurely before. After a sprain in the same wrist nagged at him on an on-and-off basis in his first pro season in 2022, Mayer played just 78 games in 2023 due to a left shoulder impingement and 77 in 2024 due to a lumbar strain. Last year, after being promoted to Triple-A on August 12, he didn't appear in a game for the WooSox as his back issues persisted.
'It's super annoying. There's really no way around it,' Mayer said. 'All I can do now is try to get better from it, keep working hard and try to get back on the field as soon as possible.'
For now — with six days to go before Thursday's trade deadline — the Red Sox are still in information-gathering mode.
"We'll see what happens,' said manager Alex Cora. 'He's obviously on the IL. A tough one, but we'll know more throughout the weekend and during the week and see what are the next steps."
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