Why Isn’t Marcelo Mayer Playing in the Red Sox-Rays Game? Is He Available?

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Marcelo Mayer was scratched with back and neck spasms before the Red Sox's series finale against the Rays, adding another injury concern.

Why is Marcelo Mayer not playing in the Red Sox-Rays game? And will he be available later in the game?

Mayer was scratched from the Boston Red Sox lineup Wednesday after waking up with back and neck spasms, creating another health concern for one of the organization’s most important young players before the series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Red Sox remain hopeful Mayer could be available off the bench later in Wednesday’s game against Tampa Bay, but the late scratch comes at a difficult time as Boston tries to avoid a three-game sweep and Mayer appeared to be making progress at the plate with recent mechanical adjustments, including the introduction of a toe-tap before his swing.

Boston Red Sox Starting Lineup

Marcelo Mayer’s Back and Neck Spasm Scratch

“Marcelo Mayer woke up with back and neck spasms and that’s why he’s not in the Red Sox lineup,” MassLive‘s Christopher Smith reported Wednesday morning.

The details that followed made it only marginally more reassuring. Mayer woke up with discomfort in his upper back and neck area and was scratched before Wednesday’s first pitch, MLB.com‘s Ian Browne reported. Interim Red Sox manager Chad Tracy told reporters he was hopeful Mayer could be available for a pinch-hit at-bat later in the game if the spasms eased during the afternoon.

Day-to-day is the official designation. No IL move has been discussed publicly as of Wednesday morning.

Tampa Bay Rays Starting Lineup

Mayer’s Injury History Causes Concern for Red Sox

Mayer, 23, was Boston’s fourth overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft out of Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, California — the highest selection the Red Sox had made since 1967. The organization has been navigating his durability ever since.

In 2022, right wrist and back problems limited him to 91 games in the minors. Left shoulder inflammation put him on the IL and ended his 2023 Double-A season early. A lumbar strain finished off his 2024 Triple-A campaign at Worcester — the second straight year a soft-tissue setback wiped out the back end of his season.

Then came 2025. A right wrist sprain sent him to the 10-day IL, and despite receiving an injection, Mayer ultimately required season-ending wrist surgery, according to MLB.com. He missed the final two months of the year.

This spring brought yet another setback. He was pulled from a Grapefruit League game in March with left knee soreness, according to CBS Sports. He worked through it and broke camp fully healthy.

Through 58 games in 2026, Mayer was hitting .222/.281/.311 with three home runs and 15 RBI, numbers that trail his power potential, but his defensive versatility at second base and shortstop had been a steady presence. The offensive adjustments he had been working on recently were encouraging for the Red Sox, making Wednesday’s scratch even more disappointing.

“Not great considering he was just starting to find something at the plate with his new mechanics,” Tyler Milliken of the Section 10 Red Sox podcast wrote on social media Wednesday.

Boston entered Wednesday’s finale already needing a win to salvage something from the three-game set against Tampa Bay. Mayer’s absence is the last thing a team falling further and further back in the American League East needs right now.

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