Red Sox Pregame Notebook: Unclear if Marcelo Mayer Will Play Again in 2025

Alex Cora provided a slew of injury updates before the Red Sox began their five-game home stand against the Marlins and Orioles. He remained uncertain over whether rookie Marcelo Mayer (wrist) will play again this season after receiving an injection earlier this month. Mayer is taking dry swings and felt ok, not great, in recent days, Cora said. He last played on July 23 against Philadelphia and started his first season as one of Boston’s ‘Big Three’ prospects hitting .228/.272/.402 with four home runs and 10 RBI through 44 games. Mayer shagged balls during batting practice before Friday’s game and was hoping to avoid surgery when he last spoke to reporters.

• RHP Tanner Houck (elbow) will undergo Tommy John surgery on Monday. He posted an 8.04 ERA through nine appearances and 43.2 IP this season.
• RHP Justin Slaten (shoulder) will throw live batting practice on Monday. He’s been out since May 28 and posted a 3.47 ERA in a setup role through 24 appearances this season.
• RHP Kutter Crawford, a key member of last year’s rotation, returned to Fenway Park following surgery to address a wrist injury that ended his 2025 season before it began. He suffered a torn subsheath that holds the wrist tendon in place while performing household maintenance. Crawford expects to be ready for Spring Training following surgery in June: “It bit me in the ass,” Crawford said of his decision do the maintenance himself.
  
• RHP Liam Hendriks (hip) played catch at 90 feet this week, Cora said. Hendriks hopes to return this season after Cora misspoke and ruled Hendriks out for the season earlier this month.
• Cora praised rookie Roman Anthony’s baserunning while pointing out his fielding and glove work as points of improvement as he continues to acclimate to the outfield: “We can talk about the offense. We’ve been talking about his offense for 3 weeks. The base running part has been on point. Good instincts. Great jumps.”
• He also highlighted the Red Sox’ right-handed hitting as the reason for the team’s significant turnaround at Fenway Park this season. Boston is 39-22 at home and 27-34 on the road after losing 4-of-6 between San Diego and Houston over the last week. The Sox finished 38-43 at home in 2024: “Right-handed hitting,” Cora said. “We had a guy that hit 30 (home runs) last year, and we had (Justin Turner) before that … (Carlos Narvaez) has done an amazing job here, Trevor (Story), I think he’s a game changer with that, Alex (Bregman) is doing his part, although he was hurt, but I think having right-handed hitters that don’t hit it off the wall, they hit it over the wall, it helps.”

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