Red Sox proven immediately wrong by Marcelo Mayer triumph
It's an easy trap to fall into.
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.
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.