The education of Marcelo Mayer
Marcelo Mayer's major league dream has come true.
The fourth overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft was promoted to the Red Sox Saturday afternoon. Mayer had been held out of the Worcester Red Sox' lineup Saturday, with WooSox manager initially classifying the absence as "precautionary."
It turns out the precaution was to update the status of injured third baseman Alex Bregman, whose injured right quad necessitated an MRI Saturday morning.
Mayer entered Saturday hitting .271 with an .818 OPS and nine homers. He has primarily been playing second base of late, although the 22-year-old has manned third base for four games.
Mayer's splits against against right-handed and left-handed pitching have been almost identical, hitting .271 with a .758 OPS against lefties and .270 with an .839 OPS vs. righties.
Drafted as a high school shortstop, Mayer has played in 1,225 minor league games, hitting a combined .273 with an .876 OPS. He is currently the eighth-ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 list.
Mayer becomes the sixth player drafted as a shortstop in the first round of the 2021 Draft to make the majors, joining Jordan Lawlar (6th overall), Matt McLain (17), Trey Sweeney (21), Max Muncy (25) and Jackson Merrill (27).