Top Boston Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer would change this aspect of his first full season as a professional baseball player if he could.
The 20-year-old, who battled wrist and back injuries, wishes he had played in more games.
“For sure, I’m a baseball player,” Mayer told MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “This is what I love to do. And you know, when I’m not able to play, it hurts a little bit.”
The fourth overall selection in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft played 91 games across Low-A Salem and High-A Greenville. He fared well as one might expect, hitting .280 with 13 home runs and 53 RBIs to go along with 17 stolen bases.
That production could have been even greater had Mayer stayed healthy and he made getting in the weight room a focus during the offseason.
“The offseason was just making sure my body’s in the best shape possible going into this year so I can be able to play,” Mayer told Browne. “I think (I learned) that the little things matter. It’s not just on the field stuff. On the field stuff is super important, but being in the weight room, the training room — all that stuff plays a big factor in you being able to perform on the field.”
There’s one area of Mayer’s on-field performance, though, that makes him grimace. The 6-foot-3, 188-pound shortstop, who is the No. 9 prospect in all of baseball according to MLB Pipeline, struck out 107 times in 350 at-bats last season in the minors, and he sure is looking to cut that number down this year.
“Yeah, 100 percent, I’ve been really focusing and zoning in, especially in BP, on not chasing because that was probably the biggest thing: just chasing, swinging at balls that aren’t hitters’ pitches,” Mayer told Browne. “So just off the machine, and flips, I’ve been zoning in on making the zone a little bit smaller. If I’m swinging at good pitches, I know I’m going to be hitting the ball hard.”
