Alex Cora Admits To Being ‘Concerned’ About Red Sox’s Top Prospect

For a second straight season, top Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer will close out a campaign dealing with an injury.

Boston director of player development Brian Abraham recently informed The Boston Globe's Alex Speier that Mayer left Worcester for Florida to rehab his lumbar strain. According to Abraham, the 21-year-old's season most likely is over.

The Red Sox do expect Mayer to "make a full recovery" and have a "normal offseason," per Speier. Still, Boston manager Alex Cora can't help but worry about the shortstop, who MLB.com currently ranks as the fifth-best prospect in all of baseball.

"Not ideal, right?" Cora told reporters, per Speier. "There's a lot of potential there. Obviously, there's a lot of other things that we have to work on -- the injuries, obviously.

"From my end, concerning, to be honest with you. We've just got to make sure we keep him healthy. That's the most important thing."

Mayer was putting together a fantastic season in Double-A Portland before his latest injury, so much so that he earned a promotion to Triple-A. But Cora's concern is warranted, as Mayer's 2023 campaign similarly was cut short due to a shoulder injury.

It's obviously far too early to panic about Mayer, whose future remains incredibly bright. But as Cora mentioned, the potential next face of the franchise still has quite a bit to work on.