Marcelo Mayer was part of the heralded trio of position player prospects that made the Red Sox’s farm system one of the best in baseball at the start of the season. Now Mayer is on the IL with a sprained wrist that is reportedly, “more serious than the Red Sox initially envisioned,” and may require season-ending surgery.
In the home stretch of the season and chasing the Blue Jays for the division lead, the Red Sox now have to turn to their minor league depth for a replacement. Mayer played the majority of his 44 games this season at third base, but moved to second once Alex Bregman returned from the IL.
Now with Mayer on the IL, Cedanne Rafaela has been getting more playing time at second base. While an outstanding defender in the outfield, it’s still to be determined if Rafaela can be an above average defensive second baseman. With a small sample size of 75 innings at second this season, he has -2 outs above average and -1 defensive runs saved.
Another candidate is Kristian Campbell, another one of the aforementioned heralded prospects. He was Boston’s starting second baseman to start the year and was great through the first month, earning American League rookie of the month honors and signing an 8-year extension. Once the calendar turned to May though, Campbell was one of the worst hitters in baseball, and was sent down to Triple-A on June 19th.
Campbell has been playing pretty well in Triple-A with an .831 OPS, but Red Sox manager Alex Cora, recently called him a "work in progress,” quelling any speculation that he’ll be the next call-up. The Red Sox may have to turn to an unlikely candidate to replace Mayer.
Vaughn Grissom to the rescue?
Infielder Vaughn Grissom is arguably one of the most maligned Triple-A players in baseball because of how he came to the Red Sox organization. A once-promising shortstop who made his debut for the Braves at just 21 years old, Grissom was part of a one-for-one trade with the Red Sox in exchange for Chris Sale. Well that’s not exactly true, as the Red Sox had to sweeten the pot with cash considerations.
Sale, who in this humble writer’s opinion, looked washed at the time of the trade, won the 2024 NL Cy Young with the Braves, while Grissom struggled with injuries and played in just 31 games for the Red Sox, batting .190.
Grissom has yet to play in the majors this season, but that could soon change as he’s put up good numbers with Triple-A Worcester, slashing .279/.348/.459 with 13 home runs. He’s played every infield position this year, but has spent the most time at second base.
Still just 24 years old, Grissom still has plenty of time to reach his potential, and he may just be Boston’s best solution for second base for the rest of 2025.