Marcelo Mayer stood in the Red Sox dugout Tuesday afternoon, watching his teammates go through their pregame drills and batting practice Tuesday afternoon. He hasn’t played since July 23, when he exited the game in Philadelphia with right wrist pain and went on the 10-day injured list with a sprain.

The Boston Red Sox have been one of the hottest teams in baseball over the past month, entering Sunday’s series finale against the Houston Astros riding a four-game win streak and holding one of the league’s best records since the start of July.