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Red Sox Blasted Over Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer Decision

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Nelson Hubbell | Last updated Jun 13, 2025 12:10 PM ET

The Boston Red Sox have called up the number one and number eight prospects in baseball over the last three weeks.

Outfielder Roman Anthony and infielder Marcelo Mayer are likely to be fixtures of the team's lineup for years to come. Still, Red Sox manager Alex Cora is taking an extremely cautious approach to their development. Cora is not starting the two rising stars against a lefty pitcher.

That has some, like the Boston Herald's Gabrielle Starr, questioning the move.

"Mayer and Anthony are the players Boston has waited for throughout several brutal so-called 'rebuilding' seasons, and if they’re finally here, they need the experience," Starr wrote. "At some point, the Red Sox need to take off the training wheels."

Now, Starr did not know that this had been a common practice by manager Alex Cora over the years. She says it started back in 2018 with Rafael Devers, and has also been done with Wilyer Abreu, Jarran Duran, and Triston Casas.

Surprisingly enough, Anthony was hitting lefties better than righties in the minors this season. A 361 average and .480 on base percentage versus lefties compared to a .245 BA and .384 OBP.

Cora has not commented directly on Antony yet, but he says now is not the time to test out Mayer against left-handed pitching.

"I don’t know if it’s going to be this season, but at one point in his career, we’re not going to pinch-hit for him,” Cora said.

Right now, Cora and the Red Sox are focused on winning games. Rob Refsnyder and Remy Gonzalez are established quality hitters against lefties at this point.

But if Boston's struggles to stay afloat this season continue, it will be interesting to see if the manager's approach changes. Right now, Starr believes Cora needs to let the rookies develop through trial by fire.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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