Thursday might have been the best day in the young career of Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer.
Mayer, one of the top prospects in baseball since Boston grabbed him with the No. 4 pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, might have turned some heads with his performance against the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland, Fla.
The 22-year-old was part of Boston’s trio of prospects that made the trip up Route 17 to face the Tigers, and Mayer hit third behind Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell. All three made an impact, but Mayer had the best day, going 3-for-3 with a triple and a home run.
The most impressive aspect of Mayer’s performance Thursday might have been the opposition. Granted, everyone is working on something at this point in the spring, so you have to take results with a grain of salt. But Mayer’s RBI triple in the first inning (see it here) came off newly signed Tigers pitcher Jack Flaherty. The home run (see it here) in the fourth inning, was a moonshot off an offering from veteran right-hander Kenta Maeda. The two starters have combined for nearly 2,000 innings in their big league career.
Mayer is now 5-for-11 through four spring games, while he makes his case to crack Boston’s Opening Day roster. The 22-year-old might be fighting a slightly uphill battle, though, at least compared to Anthony and Campbell. The Red Sox clearly have a shortstop in place with a healthy Trevor Story back to patrol the position, whereas Anthony (outfield) and Campbell (second base) have a slightly clearer line toward earning a job.
If Mayer continues to have days like Thursday, especially against legitimate big league arms, he could make the decision difficult for the Sox, although that certainly would be a good problem to have to solve.
