FORT MYERS, Fla. — It may have been a meaningless spring training game, but Wednesday night Marcelo Mayer provided a small glimpse of the primetime player the Red Sox hope he can become.
Stepping to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, a man at second and his team trailing 5-4, the top Red Sox prospect tied the game with a seeing-eye single to right field. Down to his last strike, Mayer took off sprinting out of the box on contact, and when the ball was deflected into the outfield by the first baseman Mayer was able to make it to second on the throw back to the infield.
That set the table for Mark Kolozsvary, who won the game with a walk-off single to score Mayer and give Boston an exciting 6-5 win under the JetBlue Park lights.
“It was great, that’s when I really feel most comfortable, I love the big moments,” Mayer said afterwards. “In spring training you don’t really get that feel of wanting to win a lot, it’s moreso getting ready for the season. So late in the game, the adrenaline pumping a little bit and wanting to come clutch for your team to win a game even though it’s spring training, it’s super exciting.”
Originally drafted with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, Mayer has been marked as a star in the making from the moment he joined the organization. Now ranked as the No. 15 prospect in MLB by Baseball America, Mayer has drawn rave reviews throughout his first big league camp, and Wednesday night his skills were on full display.
And while his hit was his biggest contribution of the night, Mayer’s most impressive moment may have come during the prior at bat.
Twins closer Jhoan Duran is one of the hardest throwers on the planet, boasting a fastball that routinely tops 100 mph along with an 98 mph “splinker.” Yet when they faced off in the seventh inning Duran couldn’t blow the fastball by him, with Mayer fouling off three straight pitches before the closer finally got him swinging on a slider.
“He feels like he can hit any fastball, it doesn’t matter the velo or the shape,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said afterwards. “I think the at bats are really good. He’s on the fastball, which is the most important thing.”
Mayer making it to second base on his hit also caught Cora’s attention, with the Red Sox manager noting he did it before recently as well. The 22-year-old said there wasn’t much thought that went into the decision, he was just playing the game the way he always has.
“I’ve been taught to run hard out of the box and I was able to get out of the box,” Mayer said. “I thought I had a good chance to be safe, which puts me in scoring position and helps Kolo with that base hit.”
Mayer has been productive throughout his professional career, and to this point the only knock against him has been his inability to stay healthy. The shortstop finished last season on the injured list and did not play any games at Triple-A following his midseason promotion due to a back issue, but even if he starts the season in Worcester as expected, Mayer has given every reason to believe he won’t have to wait much longer.
“He’s a complete player, he’s a good defender, we love the defense. I think offensively he lets it eat, in certain counts he swings hard,” Cora said. “He understands he needs to stop chasing the offspeed pitches and he’s done a better job lately at doing that. It’s been fun to watch him play.”
Houck struggles
Tanner Houck returned to the mound on Wednesday and endured a rough evening.
The right-hander got shelled out of the gate, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks while recording just one out in the first inning of Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Twins. He was pulled for minor leaguer Isaac Stebens, who drew a double play to end the frame.
“I felt like I made some good pitches in the first inning, just weak contact, seeing eye singles,” Houck said. “It’s part of the game, part of the way I pitch being a sinkerballer, I try to force a lot of weak contact, so I felt like I accomplished that today, I just need to be in zone a little bit more.”
Under spring training rules Houck was able to re-enter the game in the second, and while he settled down from there, he still wasn’t particularly sharp.
The All-Star allowed another two runs in the third inning, and all told he allowed five runs on eight hits, three walks and a hit by pitch while striking out two over 2.2 innings. He threw 57 pitches, 30 for strikes, and following the outing Houck said he felt better once he started throwing more sliders in the second.
“Started ripping a few more sliders, which gets me back in line, gets me back going, but trying to work on a few other things as well,” Houck said, highlighting his sinker and splitter in particular. “Knowing those two compliment the slider really well. It’s just about finding all the pieces and putting the puzzle back together.”
Following Houck’s outing, Aroldis Chapman threw a perfect fifth inning with two strikeouts, Garrett Whitlock followed suit with a perfect sixth with two strikeouts, and Cooper Criswell posted three scoreless innings, allowing two hits with four strikeouts.
Offensively, Casas led the way with a towering three-run home run to right field, his first homer of the spring. He nearly went deep again his next time up, but the ball was ruled foul and he wound up drawing a walk.
Masataka Yoshida went 1 for 2 with an RBI single in the third. Bregman went 0 for 1 with two runs scored, reaching base twice on a nine-pitch walk and a hit by pitch, and Duran went 1 for 3 with a run.
Kristian Campbell got his second straight start at second base, and he and shortstop David Hamilton turned two double plays. Campbell went 0 for 2 at the plate, and fellow top prospect Roman Anthony went 0 for 2 in his first game action since March 2.
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