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The hits keep on coming for the Boston Red Sox’ middle infield depth as the team announced ahead of Friday night’s game against the New York Yankees that shortstop Marcelo Mayer was placed on the 10-day injured list with a bone stress reaction to the left ulna. The injury to Mayer comes at a brutal time for Boston, which has seen its middle infield depth all but depleted due to injuries.
Boston is already without utility men Nick Sogard, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Romy Gonzalez, as well as shortstop Trevor Story.
Gonzalez, who is currently on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester, told WEEI’s Rob Bradford that he was hoping to be activated off the injured list ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game against the Yankees.

The 29-year-old Gonzalez is coming off a career year in 2025, where he hit .305/.343/.483/.826 with nine home runs and 53 RBI. However, Gonzalez has only played 116 innings at shortstop in his five-year major league career.
Here are the other options for Boston:
Cheng was recalled from Triple-A as the corresponding move for Mayer’s placement on the injured list. The 24-year-old made his major league debut in 2025 with Pittsburgh, where he went 0-for-7 in three games. Cheng has hit .254/.351/.424/.725 with seven home runs and 18 RBI in 64 games for Worcester.
Cheng hit ninth and played shortstop in Friday night’s game against the Yankees.

The 29-year-old Monasterio has played 319 innings at shortstop in his career and 83 innings for the Red Sox in 2026. But he has struggled defensively at short, posting a -4 defensive runs saved in his career and a -2 with the Red Sox.
Monasterio has also struggled at the plate, hitting only .224/.271/.376/.647 in 47 games. He figures to handle the bulk of the work at shortstop along with Cheng.
The Red Sox’ top positional prospect, shortstop Franklin Arias, has skyrocketed up prospect rankings in 2026 thanks to newfound power. The 20-year-old has hit .325/.402/.580/.982 with a career-high 14 home runs and 38 RBI in 60 games with Double-A Portland.
However, Arias has played only 70 games in Portland, so a promotion to the major league level would be premature at this point, especially given that Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow has yet to wave the white flag on the 2026 season.

The injury to Mayer has all but completely depleted what was once the deepest position player group in the Red Sox organization.
The Red Sox are 33-46 and in last place in the American League East.
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