Marcelo Mayer has been making a strong impression in his first spring training with the Red Sox.
Mayer, selected by Boston with the fourth overall pick in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft, turned some heads Monday during a simulated game in Fort Myers, Fla. The shortstop prospect took the Red Sox’s Opening Day starter, Nathan Eovaldi, deep, depositing a fastball 420 feet to straightaway center field at JetBlue Park.
The 19-year-old didn’t brush off the round-tripper like it was no big deal. Speaking with the media after the game, Mayer admitted he wasn’t expecting to round the bases with Eovaldi on the hill.
“(Eovaldi) is an uncomfortable at-bat,” Mayer told reporters, per The Boston Globe. “I was shocked when I hit it. But you know, he has so many good pitches that you’ve got to just really simplify it. So I ended up sitting fastball.”
Even Eovaldi didn’t chalk up Mayer’s homer as a nothing moment.
“It’s still a big deal,” Eovaldi told reporters. “They get to watch us and learn from us. And we’re all in the dugouts talking, communicating. So for him to go out there and do it (is cool). He’s one of those gifted guys who is going to make an impact with the team eventually.”
We’re probably multiple years away from talking about Mayer taking the field at Fenway Park. But the excitement surrounding the highly regarded prospect is steadily building, and that probably will continue as he cuts his teeth at the professional level.
