PORTLAND, Maine — Marcelo Mayer’s parents thought they were going to be spending the week watching their son play for High-A Greenville.
They’d flown cross-country from their home near San Diego to Greenville, S.C., on Memorial Day weekend and were waiting for Mayer to return from the Greenville Drive’s trip to Rome, Ga., when their son called.
“We’re going to have to drive to Portland,” Mayer told his parents.
It wasn’t quite that far north just yet — Double-A Portland had an upcoming road series in Somerset, N.J. So Mayer packed up that night and hit the road with his parents, Enrique and Myriam, for a 14-hour trip up the East Coast.
“Thankfully my dad was with me, so he drove most of the way,” the 20-year-old said.
With the way Mayer is rocketing through the Red Sox farm system, those long drives won’t be the norm much longer.
The Red Sox’s No. 1 prospect, and the No. 11 overall prospect in baseball, according to The Athletic’s Keith Law, made his home debut in Portland on Tuesday night in the Sea Dogs’ 6-2 win. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and a sacrifice fly.
“I’ve been feeling good, feeling confident. Just trying to do my job to win baseball games,” he said.
Mayer, the No. 4 pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, had been hitless in his first 16 at-bats last week for Portland before a 3-for-4 day Sunday. Despite not recording a hit Tuesday, he drove the ball deep to the outfield in two plate appearances, one resulting in the sacrifice fly.
“Just watching him go about his pregame in the cages over there in Somerset, he was never rattled, just stayed the course,” Portland manager Chad Epperson said. “Good players know they’re good players. Everybody struggles, but I can’t even say that was a struggle. That was just — you get a player with his pedigree who comes up to Double A, and everyone expects the first at-bat to be a home run, and it doesn’t always work that way. He’s in a good spot. He’s going to make our infield that much better than it already is.”
Typically, top prospects receive promotions to the next level around the All-Star break, but Mayer didn’t have much left to prove in High A. In 35 games for Greenville this season, Mayer hit .290. He had an .890 OPS with 11 doubles and seven homers. He’d hit .321 with six homers in May alone. The fact he’s being challenged in Double A so far is what the Red Sox want to see.
“The guy’s got exceptional tools, and he’s shown them,” Epperson said. “He made some really, really good plays, and he made some really hard plays look easy. So he’s fun to watch. Everybody knows who he is. They’re going to pitch to him a little. They’re going to bring their A-game every time he steps in the box.”
Mayer is among the youngest players in Double A this season but has proved thus far in his short professional career he’s adept at making adjustments.
“(Double-A) pitchers mix really well, so you can’t miss your pitches if they’re putting it in the zone,” Mayer said.
The transition to a new team and clubhouse is proving relatively less daunting for Mayer, who is already close with several of his Portland teammates, having spent so much time with them the previous two springs.
“In spring training, we all hang out, we’re all together all the time,” he said. “So it’s kind of sad when we break camp just because we know we’re not going to see each other for a long time. But being able to see these guys again was cool.”
That includes his double-play partner in Portland, second baseman Nick Yorke, the organization’s No. 6 prospect, per Law’s rankings. In the first inning, Mayer and Yorke combined for a fluid 6-4-3 double play with one out to end the inning after the first two batters had reached on singles. In the fifth, a ball landed just out of reach for center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela in left-center. Left fielder Corey Rosier relayed to Mayer, who fired a strike to third baseman Chase Meidroth to cut down the runner.
“His IQ of baseball is off the charts as well,” Epperson said. “He’s really intelligent, not only lining himself up defensively but on the basepaths. For 20 years old, two years out of high school, it’s pretty special.”
The Sea Dogs were off Monday, so Mayer and his parents, who are in Portland until Saturday, got a chance to tour his new city, one that puts him just two levels away from the majors and 107 miles away from Fenway Park.
His first stop? Find a good lobster roll.
“I actually had one in Boston when I went to sign, and I didn’t like it, so I was skeptical of trying it again,” he said. “But thankfully I liked it, so now I have a good spot to go to.”
Mayer might not be in Portland for long, but he’s enjoying it so far.
“We love it here,” he said. “Making it my home for however long it has to be.”
(Photo: Cliff Welch / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)