Boston Red Sox second baseman Marcelo Mayer made it clear that he has a positive relationship with Willson Contreras, who generated speculation Sunday by tying the team's shortcomings to its youth.
"I think things just got taken out of context," Mayer said Monday, according to MLB.com's Ian Browne. "I didn't mean to take a shot at anybody, obviously, especially not to Willson.
"Willson and I have a great relationship. He's an amazing teammate. He's a great person. He's a true veteran of this game, and we really respect him in the clubhouse, and he helps us a lot. He helps the team, he helps the young guys, so none of that was directed toward Willson."
Following Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros, Contreras pointed to the abundance of young players on the Red Sox as a reason for their offensive struggles.
Mayer, who's in his second big-league season, disagreed with Contreras' assessment shortly afterward.
"To me, that's just kind of an excuse: Blame the young guys," Mayer said. "But at the end of the day, we're all playing baseball. We're all pros. We all know what we need to do. I don't think we're doing a good job with runners in scoring position. When you don't do that, you don't score runs."
Mayer, Roman Anthony, Caleb Durbin, and Ceddanne Rafaela - all of whom are under 27 years of age - each entered Monday with an OPS below .683.
