Minor League Baseball

Boston Red Sox May Have a Way to Get Talented Prospect Marcelo Mayer onto Major League Roster

Kristian Campbell working out at first base may just open up the door for Marcelo Mayer after all.
Brady Farkas|
Boston Red Sox third baseman Marcelo Mayer (39) hits a three run home run during the fifth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium on Feb 27.
Boston Red Sox third baseman Marcelo Mayer (39) hits a three run home run during the fifth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium on Feb 27. | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

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Boston Red Sox

Right now, the Boston Red Sox have a "good problem" to have. They simply have too many good players. Where it becomes an issue is that there aren't enough spots.

The Red Sox have one of the deepest farm systems in baseball, and top prospects Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony haven't been able to come up yet because there's simply no place for them to play.

Enter, a possible solution.

Since Rafael Devers doesn't want to start playing first base -- Triston Casas is out for the season with a leg injury -- it appears that Kristian Campbell is going to move to the position. Campbell worked out before the game on Friday against the Atlanta Braves and said he's willing to play wherever in order to help the team.

And Red Sox broadcaster Lou Merloni astutely noticed that Mayer could join the Red Sox to play second if Campbell moves to first, finally giving himself a first crack at the big leagues.

The No. 4 pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, Mayer is hitting .274 at Triple-A Worcester with eight homers and 39 RBIs. He's got a .341 on-base percentage. He's the No. 8 prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline.

The following comes from a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:

Mayer has a fluid left-handed stroke and makes decent swing decisions, though he's been more aggressive at the plate and sought more power as he has gotten stronger. He stands out with his bat speed and exit velocities and has improved his ability to drive pitches to his pull side, though a propensity to make ground-ball contact may cap his power output at 20-25 homers per year. He still needs to make adjustments against non-fastballs (1.019 OPS against heaters in 2024, .690 vs. everything else) and same-side pitchers (.896 OPS against righties, .674 vs. lefties).

The Red Sox will take on the Braves at 7:05 p.m. ET Friday as Boston's Garrett Crochet pitches against Chris Atlanta's Chris Sale.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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