Red Sox's No. 3 Prospect Breaks Silence After Opening Day Roster Exclusion

The youngster's time will surely come...

Marcelo Mayer gets ready for a Spring Training game on March 11, 2025, at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Florida. / WooSox Photo/Ashley Green / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Following the Boston Red Sox's top prospects throughout spring training was a blast, and no one showed out more than shortstop Marcelo Mayer.

Mayer, the Red Sox's first-round pick in 2021, came into camp as the consensus number-three prospect in the organization behind close friends Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell. But he did his very best to showcase why he could one day become the top dog.

Mayer posted a .982 OPS in 44 plate appearances during big-league spring training games, and those numbers don't count his home run in the Spring Breakout exhibition on Mar. 13, nor his triple and home run Monday night in Monterrey, Mexico.

Unfortunately, Mayer's great spring wasn't enough to earn him a spot on the Opening Day roster, and it's unlikely he could have done anything on the field to change that. Shortstop is occupied by Trevor Story, who is on a $140 million contract, and Mayer's season-ending injuries of the past two years made it necessary to give him more minor-league at-bats.

However, Mayer still felt some disappointment about not making the Opening Day roster. But he's still encouraged by the results this spring and hopes to parlay them into a big regular season.

“Obviously, I would love to be a big leaguer,” Mayer said Monday, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. “I’d love to start this year in Dallas, but things don’t add up the way that you want them to sometimes.

"So I’m just going to go to Triple-A, keep playing the game that I love to play, try to get better every day so when my time is called, I’m ready to go. I feel really good. (This spring) is probably the best I’ve ever felt in my career, as far as my body, the way that I’m seeing the ball, defensively... I’m really excited for this year.”

Mayer, 22, looks the part of a future star on both sides of the ball. It's unclear exactly when he'll get to make his debut (or at what position), but based on his upward trajectory, it's hard to imagine him staying in Triple-A for too long.

For now, Mayer has one more exhibition game in Mexico on Tuesday night to make his impact felt with the big-league club. Then he'll get to work on proving Triple-A is already beneath him.

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