BOSTON \u2014 Red Sox starter Walker Buehler is glad to have Red Sox No. 2 prospect Marcelo Mayer in the majors, although he knows the circumstance that led to Mayer\u2019s promotion is far from ideal.<\/p>\n
Mayer was eventually going to make his MLB debut in 2025. But his promotion got accelerated to Saturday when Alex Bregman suffered a \u201csignificant\u201d right quad strain Friday that manager Alex Cora said will keep the star third baseman \u201cout for a while.”<\/p>\n
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Mayer started at third base for Boston both Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s going to get really comfortable here really quickly, and I think we\u2019re all looking forward to that,\u201d Buehler said. \u201cThe cost of it right now for our team, I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s how anyone would have kind of drawn it up. But I think for him pressure\u2019s probably a good thing in terms of the personality.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old Mayer (the fourth overall pick in the 2021 Draft) was Boston\u2019s highest draft selection since 1967 when it picked Mike Garman third overall.<\/p>\n
Baseball America ranks Mayer No. 8 on its Top 100 list. The site ranks him Boston\u2019s No. 2 prospect behind Roman Anthony who is the only member of the Big Three (Mayer, Anthony, Kristian Campbell) still in Triple-A Worcester.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re waiting on the third,\u201d Buehler said.<\/p>\n
Buehler knows what it is like to make it to the big leagues at Mayer\u2019s age. Buehler made his MLB debut 41 days after his 23rd birthday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe reminds me a lot of how I was when I was that age,\u201d Buehler said. \u201cAnd that pressure stuff I think brings out the best in you if you\u2019re kind of built the right way. So throw him into the fire and kind of see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayer recorded his first major league hit in his first at-bat Sunday. The left-handed hitter singled to the opposite field in left. He connected on a 93.5 mph fastball from Orioles starter Dean Kremer and it left his bat at 85.5 mph. His family was there cheering after not being able to get a flight to Boston for his last-minute MLB debut Saturday.<\/p>\n
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Mayer described getting his first hit as \u201ca really cool moment.\u201d He went 2-for-4. He also doubled (105.1 mph off the bat) in the ninth inning and scored Boston\u2019s only run in a 5-1 loss to the Orioles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad I got them today,\u201d he said. \u201cGood to get them out of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayer\u2019s parents will travel to Milwaukee to watch their son and the Red Sox play there Monday-Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a talented player,\u201d Buehler said. \u201cSpecial kid. Really, really good brain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read the original article on MassLive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Red Sox veteran starter said about Marcelo Mayer, “I think for him pressure\u2019s probably a good thing in terms of the personality.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":57748,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[238,46,2059,726,728,1392,44,114,493],"class_list":["post-57747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-alex-bregman","tag-alex-cora","tag-dean-kremer","tag-kristian-campbell","tag-marcelo-mayer","tag-milwaukee","tag-mlb","tag-red-sox","tag-walker-buehler"],"yoast_head":"\n