Red Sox proven immediately wrong by Marcelo Mayer triumph
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Red Sox proven immediately wrong by Marcelo Mayer triumph originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Boston Red Sox fell into a simple trap on Opening Day.
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There was a left-handed pitcher on the mound, Cincinnati's Andrew Abbott, and so they sat promising prospect Marcelo Mayer because he bats left-handed. Isiah Kiner-Falefa started at second base instead.
It's an easy mistake to make, and Mayer quickly proved it to be the wrong call.
He was called upon to pinch-hit when the game was 0-0, then he doubled and came around to score.
Mayer got one more at bat, singled, and scored again.
And sure, those hits came off relievers, not the southpaw starter. But Mayer isn't the only player around baseball who was sent to the bench on Opening Day for a platoon matchup.
Sure, that might be the season-long strategy, and maybe it's warranted.
But there's something different about Opening Day. Hope springs eternal. It's worth letting the players who earned the overall starting jobs be in the lineup, whether the platoon matchup favors them or not.
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Mayer, as a top prospect, certainly deserves starts over IKF, a journeyman infielder. Boston doesn't have upside with Kiner-Falefa in the lineup, but it does with Mayer.
There's nothing wrong with being a bit unusual in an Opening Day lineup. The Los Angeles Dodgers started Miguel Rojas, who likely won't start the rest of the season against a right-hander when everyone is healthy, simply as a reward for his World Series heroics as he embarks upon what is likely his final MLB season.
Mayer is at the opposite end of the timeline from Rojas, but the point remains. Play the guys that deserve to be in the lineup.
Boston kept Mayer up in MLB because he earned his spot. And shoot, even if there's a lefty, let the kid play. He's got star potential, and he's got to play to have a chance at realizing it.
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