The Boston Red Sox's upcoming series against the San Francisco Giants isn't noteworthy on paper; San Francisco sold hard at the trade deadline and are now tanking in an effort for a better draft pick. Playing at Fenway Park, the Sox should be able to roll over them without much hassle.
Yet there are a few reunions lining up that give this series a bit more gravitas than it would otherwise have. It'll be Rafael Devers' first trip back to Boston since his shocking trade about 14 months ago, though he did already play against his former team in San Francisco last year. Otherwise, it's going to be the first time that Marcelo Mayer is facing his former team, and ditto for Erik Miller after the two were traded for each other at this year's deadline.
At least, that was supposed to be the case. Unfortunately, it appears Mayer's rehab assignment is taking longer than the team hoped, as Giants manager Tony Vitello suggested he may not make his debut until next week, per Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic.
As Red Sox fans know well, Mayer has been out since late June with a forearm injury that had reportedly been bothering him all season long to that point. He only just began his rehab assignment, though it is going smoothly — he owns a 160 wRC+ over 17 plate appearances in Triple-A, though he has struck out eight times already.
Giants might protect Marcelo Mayer from Red Sox fans as they patiently await his team debut
Marcelo Mayer has had a nice rehab stint in AAA. In 17 AB he’s slashing .353 with a 1.099 OPS. The former top 15 prospect is set to debut in SF this week 👀 pic.twitter.com/l15xC97sQt
— Giant Hot Takes (@GiantHotTakes) August 19, 2026
A hiatus of seven weeks usually doesn't demand a terribly long ramp-up period before returning to the big leagues, but there's a number of factors working against Mayer. One is that he's playing for a new organization, one which may want to take more time to analyze him before deciding on his role for the rest of the year. If that's the case, better to let him do that away from the spotlight in Triple-A rather than throwing him to the wolves in his old home.
It's also worth pointing out that Mayer also just hasn't been all that good in the majors, slashing .223/.278/.346 (69 wRC+) over his first 114 games with the Red Sox. Even if he were fully healthy, it's possible that the Giants were always planning to send him back to the minors after the Sox rushed him through his prospect development.
The series is obviously going to be less exciting if Mayer doesn't play, but the return of Devers should be enough fuel for the fire regardless. Recent reports highlighting the Red Sox's problems with their former face of the franchise should ensure that both sides give it their all this weekend.
Add us as a preferred source on Google