FORT MYERS, Fla. — It’s official: Marcelo Mayer will be the Opening Day second baseman for the Red Sox.
Throughout spring training, manager Alex Cora held back on saying the 23-year-old would get the job. He said Mayer was being “handed the baton” but had to run with the opportunity to earn an everyday role.
On Saturday morning, Cora informed Mayer he’d done just that, and would get his first Opening Day start Thursday in Cincinnati. Mayer, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 draft who made his big league debut for the Sox last year, found satisfaction in having earned his spot.
“Not many people are given that opportunity to wear the ‘B’ on the hat and Red Sox across the chest. It’s an amazing feeling, and I don’t believe that should be given to anybody,” said Mayer. “I love that [Cora] told me I had to work for it, and I took that to heart every day, worked hard, and I’m grateful with the outcome.”
Mayer seemed a clear favorite for a starting infield role throughout camp. He spent 54 innings at second base, more than triple the exposure at the position of anyone else on the 40-man roster. Why did the team wait until the final days of camp before naming him for the role?
“I wanted to push him,” said Cora. “Nothing is given here, and obviously last year wasn’t great for him offensively.”
Cora said the Sox will “protect [Mayer] against lefties” in the short term, while suggesting he’ll eventually get opportunities in left-on-left matchups.
Called up to play third base when Alex Bregman was injured last year, Mayer hit .228/.272/.402 with four homers in 44 games. He played impressive defense at third, and was just starting to get time at second in mid-July when he suffered his wrist injury.
The Sox outlined multiple goals for him this spring, with improved swing decisions (his 29.7 percent chase rate last year was worse than league average, and his performance was strong when attacking strikes and woeful when swinging at pitches out of the strike zone) at the top of the list.
This spring training, Mayer is hitting .214/.389/.321 with an equal number of walks (eight) and strikeouts (eight). He’s swung at just 13 percent of pitches out of the strike zone this spring, a chase rate that ranks in the 98th percentile this spring (minimum 50 out-of-zone pitches). He has also taken more pitches in the zone than he did last year, but believes that greater selectivity will position him for success.
“I hate chasing, and I did my fair share of that last year, and it’s almost impossible to be successful when you chase. So I think just honing in on my approach and getting a pitch to hit, I’ll be successful,” said Mayer. “I want to cut that down a little bit, so I’m got to be OK with taking some balls in the zone.
“Obviously, you don’t want to take pitches that you could crush. My motor will not let me do that. When it’s crunch time, I’m always going to swing at pitches I should swing at, just the hitter that I am. So I got to tone it down more, because I know when it matters I’ll be swinging. It’s been a really good spring. I love where my approach is.”
The team also sought improvement from him defensively at second, as a baserunner, and in his work and preparation.
“[The Sox] pushed him to show that he’s capable of doing this,” said Cora. “And he did.”
Second base has been a Red Sox merry-go-round.
No one has played 100 games at the position for the team since Dustin Pedroia in 2016. Mayer will be the Sox’ eighth Opening Day second baseman in as many years. Last year, that role was conferred upon Kristian Campbell, who was optioned to the minors Saturday morning to continue his work as an outfielder while trying to reestablish his offensive credentials.
This year, Mayer will get the job — and both he and the Sox hope he will be able to bring stability and solidity to it.
“I’m excited [and] ready to go,” he said.
Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him @alexspeier.