Marcelo Mayer might be starting the season in Triple-A, but the top prospect is finishing up his banner spring on a high note.
A native of southern California with extensive family ties to Mexico, Mayer led the way in Monday’s 10-1 exhibition win over Sultanes de Monterrey, a Mexican League club based in the country’s second largest metropolitan area. Boston’s No. 3 prospect went 2 for 4 with five RBI, including a solo home run, a two-run double, a sacrifice fly and an RBI groundout to pace the Red Sox offense.
Both of the extra-base hits Mayer tallied were smoked, with his double coming 109.8 mph off the bat and the home run measured at 105.2 mph and 415 feet.
Overall the 22-year-old infielder batted .333 with three extra-base hits, 11 RBI and a .983 OPS in 20 Grapefruit League games, and if he keeps posting numbers like that in Worcester, it might be hard for the Red Sox to keep him in the minors for much longer.
Beyond Mayer, fellow prospect and soon-to-be big leaguer Kristian Campbell went 3 for 5 with a two-run double, David Hamilton went 3 for 5 with a double, a triple and three runs scored, Rob Refsnyder went 2 for 3 with a walk and a sacrifice fly, and Alex Bregman had a sacrifice fly and brilliant defensive gem at third base on a ball hit right along the third base line.
Right-hander Richard Fitts got the start and allowed one unearned run over six strong innings. Fitts retired the first 10 batters he faced and limited Sultanes to three hits with no walks while striking out five.
Aroldis Chapman, who looks like the favorite to start the season as Boston’s closer, was dominant in his one inning of relief, striking out all three batters he faced in the seventh inning. Chapman threw five pitches that hit at least 100 mph on the radar gun, topping out at 101 mph.
Justin Wilson followed by striking out two in a scoreless eighth, and Justin Slaten closed things out with a scoreless ninth.
The Red Sox will conclude their exhibition schedule with one more game in Monterrey on Tuesday before flying to Texas ahead of Thursday’s regular season opener. Minor leaguer Shane Drohan is scheduled to get the start on Tuesday, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.
Campbell’s special moment
Prior to the game, newly minted big leaguer Kristian Campbell spoke to reporters and recounted how he learned he’d be starting the season in the majors.
Following the team’s final spring training game in Fort Myers, Alex Cora called Campbell into his office and issued him a pop quiz. How many big leaguers could he name who went to Campbell’s alma mater, Georgia Tech?
Campbell got a few, but that wasn’t the point.
“He told me my name would be added to that list,” Campbell said, per the NESN game broadcast. “It was a special moment for sure.”
Originally a fourth-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, Campbell has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the Red Sox system and turned in one of the most prolific offensive seasons by any minor leaguer in recent memory. He entered this season ranked No. 4 on Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects list and now will likely start the year as Boston’s everyday second baseman.
Around the world
This week’s series in Mexico marks the second straight year the Red Sox have played internationally, following last year’s spring training games against the Tampa Bay Rays in the Dominican Republic. The club’s international history goes back a lot further than that too.
According to a release provided the club featuring information gathered by baseball researcher Bill Nowlin, the Red Sox have played internationally in eight countries or territories outside of the United States, including Canada, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, England, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This week’s trip marks Boston’s second to Mexico, with the previous one taking place in 1965, when the Red Sox played the Cleveland Indians in Nogales.
Boston’s first international game was played on July 24, 1916, when the Red Sox faced the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League in an in-season exhibition. The Red Sox returned to Canada in 1921 to face the London Tecumsehs and in 1930 to play St. John of the Boston Twilight League, and in 1941 the club played a series of exhibition games in Cuba against the Cuban Stars and the Cincinnati Reds.
More recently, Boston played its first games in the Dominican Republic in 2000 before returning in 2024, opened the 2008 season with four games in Tokyo, Japan, including the season-opening series against the Oakland Athletics, and in 2019 the Red Sox played a pair of games against the New York Yankees in London, England.
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