Tanner Houck doesn’t want Marcelo Mayer to lose sight of the moment he had Monday afternoon in Fort Myers, Fla.
Mayer provided the premier highlight in the Red Sox’s simulation game at JetBlue Park. The No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft absolutely demolished a home run off of Nathan Eovaldi, sending a fastball from the star right-hander well over the center-field fence.
It’s important not to overreact about any memorable spring training scenes, good or bad. But as Houck explained to WEEI’s Rob Bradford, the tape-measure shot off Eovaldi is a memory that Mayer should cherish.
“Unforgettable, plain and simple,” Houck told Bradford of Mayer’s home run. “It will be something that for him I hope he remembers because it’s the start of the journey. It’s fun. It’s just entertaining. And that was the start of his journey. I hope he remembers that for a long time because I still remember mine.”
Mayer still has a long way to go before he’s consistently playing games at Fenway Park. But for a prospect who became a professional less than a year ago, moments like Monday’s can help remind him he belongs.
