Red Sox Prospect Marcelo Mayer Makes Admission On Cusp Of Big Leagues

It wouldn’t be stunning if the Boston Red Sox called up Marcelo Mayer to the big leagues any day now.

It’s something the highly touted Red Sox prospect admitted he thinks about often.

“Every day,” Mayer told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier earlier this week. “As a player, that’s something that I’ve thought about every single day since I was a little kid watching games on the television with my family, or going to (San Diego) Padres games. It’s just something that you work so hard for every single day, and you just hope that one day it’s going to come true.”

There are developments within the Red Sox infield that have Mayer as close as he’s been to achieving his big-league dreams.

The Red Sox have yet to find a full-time first baseman after Triston Casas went down with a season-ending injury May 2. Nick Sogard and Abraham Toro are splitting duties at the corner infield spot at the moment, but the Red Sox have Kristian Campbell doing drills at first to possibly be a permanent solution at the position.

If Campbell does slide from second to first, it will create an opening that Mayer can fill despite the fact the 22-year-old came up through Boston’s farm system as a shortstop. The position change for Campbell doesn’t seem imminent, though.

Mayer is known for his smooth fielding ability and while there could be a transition to playing second, many believe he has the skill set to perform well defensively there.

And coupling his strong glove with his tremendous bat — Mayer is hitting .265 with eight home runs and 41 RBIs in 42 games with Triple-A Worcester this season — gives Mayer the potential to make an impact right away whenever he joins the Red Sox.

“It’s special. He makes those plays deep in the hole, and makes it look so easy. This guy is defensively ready to do a lot of great things in the big leagues. Offensively, I think the strength is coming,” WooSox hitting coach Doug Clark told Speier. “At that age, it’s really special for us to see someone with that kind of talent to be able to turn around 95, 96, have a smooth swing, have balance, and be able to move the ball to all fields. It’s a tremendous talent that we get to watch.”

But Clark and the rest of the team at Worcester might have to watch Mayer from afar soon.