FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox‘ plan is for prospect Marcelo Mayer to receive starts at shortstop, second base and third base for Triple-A Worcester.
Mayer will begin the season with the WooSox but he showed during spring training that he’s not far from the big leagues. He’s right behind second baseman Kristian Campbell who made the Opening Day roster despite subpar spring stats and no previous big league experience.
The 22-year-old Mayer, who has yet to appear in a game above Double A, batted .333 (12-for-36) with a .455 on-base percentage, .528 slugging percentage, .983 OPS, one homer, two triples, 11 RBIs, six runs, eight walks and 11 strikeouts in 20 Grapefruit League games.
Just as important, he showed good instincts and smooth play at shortstop.
“He’s played really well throughout the whole spring — at short, at second, at third,” infield instructor Jose Flores said. “He makes it look easy. When you make things on the defensive end look easy, it tells you how confident you are with your hands and how confident you are with your hand-eye coordination and how you move yourself to put yourself in a good position to make plays. So no doubt he’ll be able to succeed (at different positions).”
Mayer is believed to be big league ready at all three infield positions despite not receiving a ton of reps at second base during camp. All but two of his starts in pro ball have been at shortstop.
An injury to shortstop Trevor Story or Campbell could open the door for him at any time. The Red Sox are likely to have a long leash with Campbell if he struggles, but Mayer is a second base option if Campbell struggles a lot both offensively and defensively in April.
Manager Alex Cora described Mayer as an “old school kind of shortstop.” Mayer said his instincts are the best part of his defensive game.
Mayer’s strong defense should make his eventual transition to the big leagues easier. If he struggles offensively, he can still feel like he’s contributing and helping the team win games by playing strong defense.
All the members of The Big Three will probably struggle with the bat at times early in the majors. In 2024, rookies combined to bat just .233 with a .298 on-base percentage and .371 slugging percentage in 27,746 plate appearances.
It’s especially tough on a rookie when he’s struggling both offensively and defensively. Mayer’s ability to play strong defense should keep him confident if the offensive numbers aren’t there immediately.
The Campbell question mark
Defense is one question mark with Campbell heading into Opening Day on Thursday.
Flores said Campbell improved his double play turns during camp. The 22-year-old also has worked a lot on his throwing mechanics the past year.
But it should be interesting to see how handles himself at second base when the regular season is underway. He has made some impressive diving plays recently. But how will he look on routine plays? How smooth will he be turning double plays?
If he struggles offensively, can he still help the Red Sox win games with his glove?
Campbell likely will receive a long leash after making the 2025 Opening Day roster. Boston’s plan from the beginning of camp clearly was for Campbell to be the second baseman despite how he performed. The Red Sox liked Campbell’s underlying offensive numbers — hitting the ball hard, not chasing pitches, etc., — as the Grapefruit League schedule progressed. But he didn’t exactly earn the spot. He batted just 8-for-48 (.167 batting average) with a homer and two doubles in 20 Grapefruit League games.
The Red Sox will show patience with him. But there definitely should be questions on Campbell’s readiness.
Other observations
~ It was interesting that Cora described Blake Sabol, who’s on the 40-man roster, as “a leader” when Boston optioned the 27-year-old catcher to Worcester. The Red Sox seem to like Sabol. But he needs to improve his receiving and throwing quite a bit. Those two things will be a focus in Worcester. As of now, backup catcher Carlos Narvaez is a much superior defender.
~ Christopher Troye was brought up from minor league camp to pitch in seven Grapefruit League games. He didn’t allow a hit in 4 ⅓ innings. The 26-year-old righty struggled at Double-A Portland last year but he led all Red Sox minor leaguers with a 39.5% strikeout percentage in 2023. His fastball can reach the high-90s. He’s someone to keep an eye on.
~ Luis Guerrero, who MassLive ranked No. 15 on its Top 25 Red Sox prospect list, will begin the season at Worcester. But the 24-year-old hard-throwing righty should be one of the first relievers recalled when Boston needs to dip into its bullpen depth. He got off to a dominant start in his first three Grapefruit League games, then struggled with control. He has struggled with walks in his minor league career and finally made his MLB debut last September after finally cutting down his walk rate during the second half.
Cora pointed out that young players can let their nerves get to them when they are trying to make the big league team out of spring training camp for the first time.
“That comes into play, too,” Cora said. “Sometimes they try to do too much. And our job as an organization is kind of like ‘Slow it down. You will be fine.’ It’s going to take more than 26 guys to play good baseball throughout the season and then get to where we want to go. But the timing’s not right now. He’ll go down there. Get him to attack the strike zone again. I think he stopped using the fastball more lately. He started mixing up his secondary pitches and he wasn’t able to throw too many strikes.”
~ Shane Drohan pitched well when called up from minor league camp to pitch in big league spring training games. He pitched six scoreless innings and allowed just two hits and one walk while striking out five in two Grapefruit League games (one start). He also threw 2 ⅔ scoreless innings in Boston’s exhibition win in Mexico on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old lefty was once a top pitching prospect in the Red Sox organization. The White Sox selected him in the 2023 Rule 5 Draft. But he underwent shoulder surgery during 2024 spring training and was eventually returned to the Red Sox in June.
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