Marcelo Mayer homers off star closer in spring debut; Red Sox teammate has impressive left-on-left blast
Marcelo Mayer waited a week longer than most of his teammates to get into a spring training game. That wait proved worth it.
Mayer made the most of his Grapefruit League debut against the Braves in North Port on Friday, crushing a no-doubt homer off star closer Raisel Iglesias in the fourth inning. Mayer, who started at second base, worked the count to 3-1 and then got a sinker over the plate and didn’t miss it. His first spring homer came off the bat at 105.3 mph and traveled 381 foot at CoolToday Park.
A video of Mayer’s homer is here.
“The kid can hit,” manager Alex Cora told reporters. “We know that… It was a good day. A really good day.”
Mayer’s Grapefruit League debut was delayed as he checked off the final boxes of his rehab process after undergoing wrist surgery in August. Cora made headlines late last week by seemingly challenging the 23-year-old by noting that he was not guaranteed a starting job at either second base or third base. It remains likely Mayer will start at one of those positions (at least against right-handed starters) with newcomer Caleb Durbin manning the other. So far in workouts, Durbin has seen the majority of his time at third base with Mayer playing second, a position where he logged 57 innings over eight games in 2025.
Mayer hit just one homer in 20 big league spring training games last year and four blasts (including two in the same game on June 11) in 44 major league games. Considering his high defensive floor, Mayer can guarantee his roster spot with more strong offensive performances in the coming weeks.
Duran takes launch, too
Before Mayer homered, teammate Jarren Duran had an impressive swing against an old friend. In the second pitch of his at-bat, Duran got a hanging slider from ex-Red Sox ace Chris Sale and smoked it to left-center field at 105.1 mph and 409 feet.
Duran’s blast was particularly notable because it came against one of the best left-handed pitchers in the game. In 2025, left-on-left matchups were a struggle for the speedster, as he hit just .211 with three homers and a .600 OPS in 209 such plate appearances. With Duran, Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela and Masataka Yoshida in the mix for limited outfield at-bats — and Kristian Campbell and Nate Eaton both looming as potential platoon options — Duran will likely need to get results against left-handers to keep getting at-bats against them.
A video of Duran’s homer is here.
Speaking to reporters after a 15-8 blowout loss, Cora mentioned again that Duran’s swing appears “shorter to the ball” so far in camp and that he has been impressed by the early returns.
“He’s in a good spot,” Cora told reporters. “Throughout camp, he has faced a lot of lefties. He has faced Chappy (Aroldis Chapman) a lot of times, and he’s putting good at-bats. The swing, it looks different.”
Rafaela also hit a two-run blast. In total, there were eight home runs in the game.
