The Red Sox have a new starting second baseman: Marcelo Mayer

“Marcelo is going to be our second baseman. He did an amazing job in the offseason,” said Cora. “He’s stronger now. He can play second. He can play short. He can play third. … Just a good defender, a good player, and I’m excited about him.” Throughout spring training, manager Alex Cora had been coy about whether the 23-year-old would get the job. But all along, Mayer — the No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 draft, who made his big league debut last year, a run that ended early due to a July wrist injury that required surgery — was the favorite. And on Saturday morning, Cora removed any uncertainty. FORT MYERS, Fla. — It’s official: Marcelo Mayer will be the Opening Day second baseman for the Red Sox. Cora said the Sox will “protect [Mayer] against lefties” in the short-term, while suggesting that he’ll eventually get opportunities in left-on-left matchups. Why did the team wait until the final days of camp before naming him for the role? “I wanted to push him,” said Cora. “Nothing is given here, and obviously last year wasn’t great for him offensively.” Called up to play third when Alex Bregman was injured last year, Mayer hit .228/.272/.402 with four homers in 44 games. He played impressive defense at third, and was just starting to get time at second in mid-July when he suffered his wrist injury. The Sox outlined multiple goals for him this spring, with improved swing decisions (his 29.7 percent chase rate last year was worse than league average, and his performance was strong when attacking strikes and woeful when swinging at pitches out of the strike zone) at the top of the list. This spring training, Mayer is hitting .214/.389/.321 with an equal number of walks (8) and strikeouts (8). He’s swung at just 13 percent of pitches out of the strike zone this spring, a chase rate that ranks in the 98th percentile this spring (min. 50 out-of-zone pitches). But the team also sought improvement from him defensively at second, as a baserunner, and in his work and preparation. “[The Sox] pushed him to show that he’s capable of doing this,” said Cora. “And he did.” Mayer will be the Sox’ eighth Opening Day second baseman in as many years. Last year, that role was conferred upon Kristian Campbell, who was optioned to the minors on Saturday morning. This year, Mayer will get the job – and the Sox hope he will be able to maintain it. Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him @alexspeier.