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Boston Red Sox prospect Kristian Campbell is seemingly the favorite to be the team's second baseman on Opening Day with Rafael Devers seemingly in line to be the DH, but when asked about Marcelo Mayer, manager Alex Cora said he is in play to win the job as well.
“Everybody has a shot,” Alex Cora said, via Ian Browne of MLB.com.
Mayer and Campbell are two of the Red Sox's top three prospects, and are two of the top prospects in all of baseball. Mayer was drafted as a shortstop with the No. 4 pick in the 2021 MLB Draft. In the long-term, Mayer being the shortstop and Campbell being the second baseman seems like the logical scenario once Trevor Story is out of the picture. Even though Mayer might have an uphill battle to make the Opening Day roster in 2025, Cora still gave a glowing review for what he has displayed in Spring Training.
“Controlling the strike zone. He's done a good job with that,” Cora said. “The walk yesterday. I think he does a pretty good job letting it eat when he has to, but he's done a good job laying off pitches. Baserunning wise, he's been outstanding. The plays yesterday. Two dirt ball reads. Got to second, got to third, he's done it our times already in Spring Training. The baseball player is real. He's not just a prospect. He's a baseball player.”
In 28 at-bats so far in Spring Training, Mayer has 10 hits with one home run, batting .357 with a .438 on-base percentage and a .974 OPS, according to MLB.com. The Red Sox are already a solid team on paper, but they have three top prospects on the way with Mayer, Campbell in addition to Roman Anthony, who is regarded as the best of the group, and the top prospect outside of Roki Sasaki in all of baseball.
With just over a week until Opening Day, it will be interesting to see what the Red Sox's roster looks like when they leave camp.
