Story paying it forward as prospect Mayer nears MLB

This story was excerpted from Ian Browne¡¯s Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

TAMPA -- Marcelo Mayer has been branded as the shortstop of the future for the Red Sox since the moment he was selected as the fourth overall pick in the 2021 Draft.

That selection came eight months before Trevor Story signed a six-year contract to come to Boston.

With Mayer -- MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 11 prospect and No. 3 for the Red Sox -- appearing close to Major League ready, a collision course between the dazzling young prospect and the incumbent veteran could come soon.

But the person most unfazed by this is Story, who showed his leadership qualities by mentoring Mayer, who spent the entirety of big league camp with the Red Sox before starting the season at Triple-A Worcester.

Troy Tulowitzki helped instill Story¡¯s current mindset when it comes to Mayer. For Story¡¯s career has come full circle -- he was once a top prospect for the Rockies while Tulowitzki was considered one of the best shortstops in the game.

¡°I never wanted to be the guy that stayed away from [Mayer] or felt threatened by him. Tulo was really good to me in that regard,¡± Story said. ¡°I took that from him and I¡¯m just embracing Marcelo. It's never bad having great players. No matter where anyone plays, you want great players.¡±

When he reported to Worcester for the start of the season, Mayer admitted to being stung by Boston¡¯s decision not to put him on the Opening Day roster.

¡°Obviously, I felt like I deserved a spot on that [big league] roster given the way that I played, but things don¡¯t always happen the way you want them to, so I¡¯ve just got to play hard over here and see what happens,¡± Mayer told The Boston Globe.

A decade ago, Story had those same emotions.

¡°I thought there was a chance I would come up at the end of the year when Tulo got traded [on July 28, 2015],¡± Story said. ¡°I was playing well at Triple-A and thought it made sense, but it didn't happen, and I went into the offseason with the chance to make the team so it just lit a fire under me. And obviously I was able to win the job out of Spring Training. You learn from those moments, and you let them drive you.¡±

Story is the first to acknowledge how talented Mayer is.

¡°He's impressive,¡± Story said. ¡°He loves the game and has a really high baseball IQ. He moves with a fluidity and smoothness to him, which is fun to watch. You see it at the plate. You see it at short. You see it anywhere on defense. He's a hitter. You can tell. He just has that confidence in the box and I love his swing. He's gonna be really good for a long time. I'm sure we'll see him soon.¡±

During Spring Training, Story and Mayer were grouped together during countless drills.

¡°We took ground balls a lot together at short and I¡¯d just share little details here and there,¡± Story said. ¡°He's already pretty slick. I was just sharing little things that I've learned over the years. He's a big shortstop. I'm a little bit of a bigger shortstop, too. So with that comes a little bit of a challenge sometimes. There¡¯s different ways and different little details that you can use.¡±

It didn¡¯t go unnoticed by Mayer.

¡°He always wanted to help, which goes a long way, especially because he plays my position,¡± said Mayer. ¡°He knows more about short than a lot of other players. So just watching him go about his work was really cool. Anytime you're around somebody who has that much experience in the game, any insight they can give you helps a lot.¡±

Mayer seemed to get as much from watching Story as he did from talking to him.

¡°Just as far as the way he goes about his business, he's a super pro,¡± Mayer said. ¡°And to see someone like that who's been in the league for so long still gets after it the way he does, it¡¯s pretty impressive.¡±

Story¡¯s best way of protecting his turf is to come out of the gate like he has so far this season. The veteran took a .311 average into Wednesday¡¯s series finale against the Rays with two doubles, three homers, eight RBIs and six stolen bases while playing his usual excellent defense at short.

If Mayer¡¯s presence makes him expendable at some point, it isn¡¯t something that keeps Story up at night.

¡°Not at all,¡± Story said. ¡°Baseball is such a day-to-day thing. You can't project things, and you can't think too far ahead. Really, I¡¯m just living in the moment and things will play out how they do.¡±