Marcelo Mayer already crown jewel of Red Sox farm system
Jan. 20—The Red Sox hit the jackpot when they drafted Marcelo Mayer.
After enduring a horrible last-place season in 2020, the Red Sox went into last summer's MLB Draft with the No. 4 overall pick, the club's highest pick in 54 years. They wound up coming away with the consensus top overall prospect in the draft, a high school shortstop out of California described as boasting a combination of Corey Seager's bat and Brandon Crawford's glove.
Mayer immediately became among the top prospects in baseball and is likely one of the most highly acclaimed players to come through the Red Sox system in recent memory. Yet even amid all of that hype, Mayer has met or exceeded all expectations since his professional career began.
"Every way he was described before the draft, everything that we saw in our scouting reports and what our evaluation said about him, I think has rung true so far," said Brian Abraham, the Red Sox director of player development, in a recent interview. "Just a young, athletic, yet mature baseball player that does a lot of things that are extremely hard, extremely easily."
Mayer was assigned to the Florida Complex League following his selection and wound up playing 26 games of rookie ball between August and mid-September. During that time, the 18-year-old batted .275 with an .817 OPS along with three home runs and 17 RBI. He also displayed the fielding instincts that helped him earn recognition as the top defensive player in the draft, and Abraham said the tools he displayed at Eastlake High School have been on full display with the Red Sox.
"He plays like a true shortstop middle infielder," Abraham said. "He has arm strength, moves laterally extremely well, moves left and right very well and has very solid hands with a strong arm.
"Then offensively, he has a smooth swing that can drive the ball fairly easily, drive the ball to all fields, and he has a good understanding of the strike zone for a young baseball player and hits the ball really hard," Abraham continued. "So I think everything you would hope for from a high pick, he has."
Mayer's arrival coincided with the breakout success of fellow newcomers Nick Yorke and Blaze Jordan. The two 2020 draft picks both tore up the minors in their first professional seasons, and now Boston finds itself in the unique position of having three teenage infield prospects who all project as potential impact players at the big league level.
But Mayer is without a doubt the crown jewel.
Following the season, Mayer was ranked as baseball's No. 9 overall prospect by MLB.com, and he ranks either first or second behind Triston Casas in the Red Sox system according to MLB.com, Baseball America and SoxProspects.com. He is regarded as a potential franchise cornerstone who could one day become an all-star, and Abraham said the most encouraging thing about Mayer is he understands his talent without letting it get to his head.
"So far his ability to not only focus on himself, but also be a good teammate, help others around him within the organization and to show that maturity on and off the field has been really exciting for us to see," Abraham said. "To have a really good baseball player is great, to have a really good baseball player that's a really good young man, that's even better."
Even if Mayer exceeds the most optimistic projections, it'll probably still be a couple of years before we see him in the big leagues. Mayer will most likely start 2022 at Low-A Salem, where one of his first big challenges should be adjusting to the rigors of a full-length professional season.
But if the early returns are any indication, Mayer is everything the Red Sox hoped he would be.
Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.
