Boston's Big 3 already taking names -- with Mayer leading way

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Alex Cora and A.J. Hinch have remained close as opposing managers from their time together with the Astros. So when the Tigers’ manager saw the prospects on the Red Sox's travel roster for Thursday’s game against Detroit at Joker Marchant Stadium, Hinch had a wisecrack.

Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer? Back-to-back-to-back atop the starting lineup?

“I told AC he’s flexing a little bit by bringing those three,” Hinch said before Boston’s 6-5 win. “Those kids are good players.”

They’re three of the top 12 prospects in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. And with a long trip from Fort Myers for Thursday’s road game and most of Boston’s veterans staying home, the prospects had an opportunity to start and get some at-bats against veteran pitching on the Tigers’ side. They put their talent on display, combining to go 4-for-8 with a double, a triple, a home run, three runs scored and four RBIs while playing clean defense in the field.

“It’s a good day for them to get at-bats,” Cora, Boston’s manager, said. “It’s hard to find at-bats with the talent that we have, but we’ll figure it out.”

Much of the damage came from Mayer, MLB Pipeline’s No. 12 prospect, who is in some ways an overshadowed player amidst the rise of Campbell and Anthony. After Campbell battled Detroit starter Jack Flaherty for an eight-pitch walk in the first inning, fouling off a pair of 3-2 pitches to stay alive, Mayer crushed a Flaherty slider 408 feet to left-center for a one-out triple to bring Campbell home.

“We were talking about his swing today,” Cora said. “In BP, he was rotational. He was pulling everything, and I talked to him a little bit. His first BP a few weeks ago, he was driving the ball to left-center, and that plays. I know we live in an environment where we preach ‘Pull the ball in the air,’ but he can drive the ball to left-center.”

Said Mayer: “The biggest thing for me was getting a good pitch to hit and staying through it. Like Alex said, I was a little rotational during BP, which happens. You’re hitting BP off 50 miles an hour and you’re trying to hit bombs sometimes.”

After a fourth-inning single to shallow center, Mayer still got his pull-side drive in the fifth after Anthony hit a Kenta Maeda sweeper to deep center for an RBI double. Mayer saw a Maeda fastball over the plate and lofted it into the wind blowing out to right. The Statcast-projected 352-foot drive wasn’t nearly as long as his batting practice drives, but it was just as effective.

“That was a good time,” Mayer said. “I’m glad we got the win. It’s fun to play with the boys again.”

It was very much a flex.

"Impressive prospects and they are developing nicely,” Hinch said after the game. “There's a reason they are ranked on a lot of those lists. They showcased it today, pretty much to a man."

Though the Red Sox have a lot to sort out in their infield, Cora said they’ll get Mayer playing time at third and short in camp. He’s slated to play shortstop on Friday when the Red Sox visit the Phillies in Clearwater.

“You can tell that the moment is not big. He’s very comfortable in the environment,” Cora said. “I truly believe the higher the level, the better he’s going to be. Sometimes people don’t talk about him, like he’s the forgotten one. He’s still a freakin’ good player, man. We’re going to move him around, and he’s going to keep getting at-bats. It’s fun to be around him, too.”