CINCINNATI – Stay ready. That is the message for anyone who plays for Alex Cora.
Perhaps no manager in the game more deftly utilizes his bench than Cora, and Marcelo Mayer learned firsthand the value of following that motto.
Sure, the left-handed hitter would have loved to have been in the lineup for the first Opening Day of his career, just days after Cora named him the team’s primary second baseman.
But for now, Cora said the club will “protect Mayer” against lefties.
Once Reds lefty Andrew Abbott came out of the game following six scoreless innings, Mayer knew his time was coming on Thursday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.
Mayer pinch-hit for Isiah Kiner-Falefa to lead off the top of the seventh against Reds righty Pierce Johnson and smashed the second pitch he saw for a double to left-center.
It was a rally starter for the Red Sox, as Mayer wound up scoring the first run in Boston’s 3-0 victory.
“It was great,” Mayer said. “[Cora] makes it clear when you don’t play, you’ve got to stay ready. So my job when I don't start is to make sure that I'm ready to come in whenever he needs me to, so to be able to come through feels great for the team.”
Mayer is building a routine to maximize his opportunities off the bench.
“Getting in the gym, staying warm, activating, hitting in the cage, stuff like that,” Mayer said. “And then when I see a righty come up, I know that's probably a good sign that I'm going to come in. So just staying ready for that moment.”
Even though Mayer would like the chance to start against lefties, he knows he will have to earn it.
In the meantime, the confident 23-year-old is proving he can be an asset off the bench. Mayer added a second hit, a leadoff single, that sparked Boston’s two-run rally in the ninth.
“They know,” Cora said. “We’re going to use everybody. We talked to him at the end of camp. I know he wants to play against lefties, but this is where we’re at right now and have different guys who can do the job and we're gonna do that. We're gonna be aggressive when we have to pinch-hitting wise. [Masataka Yoshida] was ready today in certain spots. We didn’t use him. I think the 13 guys that are here, position-player wise, and obviously pitching, they're really good and we’ll maximize the roster.”
Despite Mayer spending the first six innings of the season on the bench, Opening Day wound up being one to remember.
“Just trying to take it all in,” Mayer said. “First Opening Day is special. Had a cup of coffee last year, but it's really nice to break with the team and experience an Opening Day. I'm super excited for Friday at Fenway Park.”
After experiencing some growing pains offensively in his injury-shortened rookie season, there’s reason to think Mayer – the fourth pick in the 2021 Draft – is on the cusp of being a key contributor.
“He’s unbelievable. He’s a great player,” said Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony, who made a clutch ABS challenge in the season-opening win. “Him being able to do that off the bench, the kind of player he is, is going to be huge for us all year. The defense. The at-bats. The quality of at-bats in the spring I think was huge and something that was kind of slept on. Guys in here saw it. It’s great to see that from him and kind of rolling it into Opening Day, and off the bench, too.”