Boston's Big 3 already taking names -- with Mayer leading way
Jason Beck
@beckjasonLAKELAND, 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.¡±