The Boston Red Sox have a trio of prospects that could lead to a bright future. Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, and Marcelo Mayer are all top 15 prospects according to MLB Pipeline entering the 2025 season and many Red Sox fans entered Spring Training wondering when each of them could make their debut.
For Campbell, the future is now as he was named the Red Sox Opening Day second baseman earlier this week. For Mayer and Anthony, they’ll have to wait as they were optioned to Triple-A Worcester in the final roster cuts.
It’s a disappointing situation that could turn into fuel for a young player and Mayer used it as fuel in Boston’s opening game of the Monterrey Series in Mexico on Monday night.
Red Sox Prospect Marcelo Mayer Collects 5 RBI in First Game After Demotion
The Red Sox crushed Sultanes de Monterrey 10-1 in the first game of a two-game series in Monterrey, Mexico on Monday night but Mayer was the headliner. Playing in his first game since the news of his demotion, Mayer went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run, and five RBI, perhaps sending a message to the team after he was sent to the minors.
“He’s a good player,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Mayer via MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “The more you see him, he passes the eye test. I had a feeling that this atmosphere, something cool was going to happen with him. He was very excited about the whole thing and for him to put on a show in front of this crowd was amazing.”
The demotion may have been enough fuel for Mayer. But he grew up 10 minutes away from the Mexican border in Chula Vista, Calif., making Monday’s game feel like a homecoming. Playing in front of a crowd of 21,806, the game also had a big-league atmosphere, and the 22-year-old wasted little time showing he belonged.
Mayer ripped a double in his first at-bat before driving in a run on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. The exclamation point came when Mayer crushed a solo home run in the seventh inning and drove in his fifth RBI on a groundout in his final at-bat, making his first game in Mexico one to remember.
“It doesn’t get much better than that. Especially for me,” Mayer said. “I’ve never played in a big league game, so that’s definitely the most fans I’ve played in front of. And just the environment that they brought tonight was super electric. It was a great time.”
It was the latest performance in a strong Spring Training for Mayer, who has hit .333/.455/.528 with a home run and 11 RBI in 20 games. He’s also coming off a strong season at Double-A, hitting .307/.370/.480 with eight homers, 38 RBI, and 13 stolen bases on 15 attempts but hasn’t played an inning at Triple-A.
That inexperience along with the presence of Trevor Story may have kept him from making the Opening Day roster. But Monday’s game made it clear it may not be long before Mayer plays in a similar environment later this summer.