Red Sox Lose Another Infielder to Injured List
The suddenly very thin Boston Red Sox infield just took another big hit.
Ahead of Friday night's matchup against the New York Yankees, manager Chad Tracy announced that Marcelo Mayer will be placed on the 10-day IL with a forearm issue. Coming up from Triple-A in his place will be 24-year-old infielder Tsung-Che Cheng.
According to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, he has a "bone stress reaction" which he has dealt with for some time. The team likened his injury to the one that sent fellow infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the IL last weekend.
Marcelo Mayer is headed to the IL with a bone stress reaction in his forearm similar to Kiner Falefa. Tracy said he's been dealing with it on and off for "a while". Chang will be activated from Worcester and play a lot of short. Romy Gonzalez is in Worcester at least one more day
— Jen McCaffrey (@jcmccaffrey) June 26, 2026
Mayer told MassLive's Chris Cotillo that he was dealing with the arm injury for two months, but it has now gotten to the point where he needs to shut it down. The team does not have a clear timeline for him to come back, but he told Cotillo that they will approach it on a "week-to-week" basis.
Mayer will now join Kiner-Falefa, Nick Sogard, and Trevor Story as Sox infielders to go down with an injury in the last month and a half. With Cheng joining the big-league club, the Red Sox have now used every healthy member of their 40-man roster except for Kristian Campbell. While they expect to have Romy Gonzalez back soon, this alarming lack of depth could prove very challenging to navigate if another injury pops up in the next few weeks.
Mayer assumed the majority of the shortstop duties when Story went down in May, starting 20 games at the position after logging just three innings there across his first 90 big-league games. The 23-year-old has struggled at the plate all season, and has delivered some uncharacteristically poor defensive plays recently, including a "brutal" error in the series finale in Colorado that he said, "cost us the game."
This inning should've never came close to this. Just brutal timing for that Marcelo Mayer error. pic.twitter.com/vwJjVrS45F
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) June 24, 2026
The struggling Sox have seen improved play from Caleb Durbin at third base but will now have to lean on some combination of Cheng, Andruw Monasterio, and Anthony Seigler up the middle on an everyday basis until Mayer, Kiner-Falefa, Sogard, or Story are ready to come back. Mayer's absence is also likely to put some added pressure on Gonzalez, who has yet to play this season after April shoulder surgery, to get out in the field almost immediately upon his return rather than easing back in as a DH.
Injuries have been a concern for Mayer so far in his short career, as he struggled to play full seasons in the minor leagues and missed the end of the 2025 season with a wrist injury. Despite his struggles, it was an encouraging sign to see the young infielder posting on a regular basis this year, even battling through a foot injury earlier in the week.
But in what is shaping up to be a lost season for the Red Sox, yet another injury will stand in the way of crucial development time. Given the history of injury timelines this season, it wouldn't be a surprise if Mayer's stay on the IL lasts longer than what is originally forecasted.
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This story was originally published June 26, 2026 at 3:18 PM.