The veteran left-hander, who signed with Boston on a two-year deal, is working his way back from Tommy John surgery and is expected to be ready in time for the second half. Manager Alex Cora has high hopes for Sandoval, who compiled a 3.53 ERA in 380 1/3 innings (69 starts) from 2021 through 2023 with the Los Angeles Angels.

Owen Crisafulli is a Senior Editor and NFL Lead at ClutchPoints, who also covers the NBA and MLB. He recently received his Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College. Previously, he obtained his Bachelor's degree in Sport Management, ran his own website, and had bylines at FanSided and the Basketball Network.

“Mayer plays the part,” Cora said Wednesday at JetBlue Park. “He’s really good at shortstop. Smooth, good intuition, good instincts. For how tall he is, he moves with grace over there — old-school kind of like shortstop. He’s really good."