Marcelo Mayer, 2021 1-4

Sam Ray Not

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Is there any case for burning a year by calling him up?
I’m an instant gratification guy who would love to see the Mayer-to-Grissom-to-Casas combo on the field. like, this afternoon, but the consensus in the “SS possibilities” thread seems to be that it’s best to wait till late-season callups at the earliest (with a stint in Worcester in the interim).

Mayer is three years younger than Casas; as Louis Armstrong sang about Tracy DiVincenzo and James Bond, “we have all the time in the world….”
 

sodenj5

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7 errors at SS in 188.1 innings so far this season
I feel like defense is one of the things I’m absolutely not concerned with from Mayer.

Every report out of high school had him as a naturally gifted defensive player. Maybe a small rough patch for him, but his progress with the bat>>>>his defensive hiccup.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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I feel like defense is one of the things I’m absolutely not concerned with from Mayer.

Every report out of high school had him as a naturally gifted defensive player. Maybe a small rough patch for him, but his progress with the bat>>>>his defensive hiccup.
I feel like errors for young players, even those with a good defensive reputation, tend to be pretty common and not necessarily indicative of much. IIRC Jose Iglesias was super error prone on paper but a lot of them are the kinds of things that fade with experience—taking the extra beat to plant your foot and throw rather than trying to make the SC Top 10. Getting more acquainted with the speed of the game, etc.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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I feel like defense is one of the things I’m absolutely not concerned with from Mayer.

Every report out of high school had him as a naturally gifted defensive player. Maybe a small rough patch for him, but his progress with the bat>>>>his defensive hiccup.
I wouldn't worry about the errors as much as his range (which is still very context based and don't think defensive stats can really capture that), so I'd trust more scouting for now.
 

Chainsaw318

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Mayer with another homer tonight.

It’s possible his power translates more than originally thought - even after the shoulder injury in May last year, he was strong enough to hit 6 homers in Portland.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

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Mayer with another homer tonight.

It’s possible his power translates more than originally thought - even after the shoulder injury in May last year, he was strong enough to hit 6 homers in Portland.
I don't know how much power he was expected to have, been seeing him up close and in person, he's a big dude. Im not a giant, but at 6'2 - 6'3, I generally only know someone's "tall" if we're roughly eye to eye. He's my height and has a frame to put on muscle. He's listed at 185-190 pounds, but he absolutely has the frame to hold another 15 pounds without it being detrimental to his speed.
 

snowmanny

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Is that how he pronounces his last name? Like “Meyer,” not like “Mayor” or “My-air”? Or was that just announcers choice?
 

Chainsaw318

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Mayer has done what anyone could have asked this season - shown that last years AA performance was impacted by the shoulder injury, show that injury has healed, and continue to impact the game.

.300/.367/.482/.849 in 220 ABs in Portland. 20 doubles, 6 home runs and 12 steals. 23 walks, 52 strikeouts. All reports are that the defense at SS is good. Not gold glove quality, but good.

We can look at the things that are still an issue, such as a profound weakness to LHP (.530 OPS), but he continues to look like a solid mlb regular, with the combination of skills adding up to create significant value, though one skill may not prove to be a calling card.
 

5dice

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The range of opinions on MM are so varied right now, it’s really challenging to get a read on what is good, what is bad, what is improving, what is lagging where it should be across everything from swing mechanics to fielding range and positioning. Is 60 pa’s this year enough of a sample size against lefties to make sweeping statements about his ability to hit them?

Not just eye test people versus data people. There is even disagreement within those factions.

Also never thought I would see so many people suddenly including him in trade proposals, either.

People saying “he’s too old to be doing xyz” all the way to he “won’t make it until some time in 2026 and the Sox are not rushing him.”
 

Jimbodandy

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The range of opinions on MM are so varied right now, it’s really challenging to get a read on what is good, what is bad, what is improving, what is lagging where it should be across everything from swing mechanics to fielding range and positioning. Is 60 pa’s this year enough of a sample size against lefties to make sweeping statements about his ability to hit them?

Not just eye test people versus data people. There is even disagreement within those factions.

Also never thought I would see so many people suddenly including him in trade proposals, either.

People saying “he’s too old to be doing xyz” all the way to he “won’t make it until some time in 2026 and the Sox are not rushing him.”
I'm not sure how anyone can find anything not to like about MM, but I suppose that it's possible.

He's a stud.
 

RorschachsMask

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I'm not sure how anyone can find anything not to like about MM, but I suppose that it's possible.

He's a stud.
I’m not seeing these varied opinions either, he’s universally considered an elite prospect. At least as far as I know, which isn’t much.
 

BringBackMo

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The range of opinions on MM are so varied right now, it’s really challenging to get a read on what is good, what is bad, what is improving, what is lagging where it should be across everything from swing mechanics to fielding range and positioning. Is 60 pa’s this year enough of a sample size against lefties to make sweeping statements about his ability to hit them?

Not just eye test people versus data people. There is even disagreement within those factions.

Also never thought I would see so many people suddenly including him in trade proposals, either.

People saying “he’s too old to be doing xyz” all the way to he “won’t make it until some time in 2026 and the Sox are not rushing him.”
Can you cite some examples? Is this from posters here? Where are you seeing these wildly varying opinions of him? For context, MLB.com has him listed as the seventh best prospect in all of baseball.
 

barclay

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Can you cite some examples? Is this from posters here? Where are you seeing these wildly varying opinions of him? For context, MLB.com has him listed as the seventh best prospect in all of baseball.
And for purposes of salivation only, Anthony (who Sox Prospects has rated above Mayer) is 14 on that list while Teel is 24. :)
 

LogansDad

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Both Sox Prospects and Fangraphs have said that he has a stiff front side which is leading to some trouble with offspeed stuff, especially against LHP's. He also isn't an "elite" defensive shortstop, but is steady and probably going to be slightly above average there.

I have seen nothing that says he will be anything but a very good MLB SS, his floor is really MLB regular with All Star as his ceiling, so I'm not really sure where the "mixed reviews" that started this line of questioning came from.
 

TrotNixonRing

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He was all the way down at 69 for FanGraphs headed into the season and up to 43 now.
Here is their reasoning:

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/boston-red-sox-top-47-prospects/


My offseason report on Mayer was filled with apprehension about his issues against secondary pitches (which for a couple of years he had performed in spite of) and the way he was trending athletically on defense. It also acknowledged that some of Marcelo’s late 2023 dip could have been caused by the effects of a shoulder injury (which he tried playing through before it ultimately ended his season), and that a 21-year-old could pretty quickly remake his body and once again have the requisite athleticism to handle shortstop. Some of that has turned out to be true, and Mayer has raked at Double-A Portland during the first half of 2024, but I still think there are some underlying issues here. Clearly he’s graded as a 50 FV player and therefore projects to be an everyday shortstop, but I think these warts will stifle his production below the superstar level readers might expected of him.
The way Mayer’s swing works (his front side is very upright through contact, his hips tend to bail toward first base pretty early, and his bat path struggles to find pitches down and away from him) continues to leave him vulnerable against soft stuff. His issues haven’t been as stark in 2024 as they were in 2023 when he had a sub-.500 OPS against secondary pitches, but there’s still an enormous dip compared to the way he handles fastballs. Choirs of angels have blessed Mayer’s hitting hands, which are deft and drive contact explosive enough to remain excited about his overall offensive future, just not to the level of a Bobby Witt Jr. or Corey Seager in terms of impact. If we suddenly see more bend in his lower body, the way Max Muncy altered his swing before his huge breakout in LA, then there will be reason to re-evaluate.
Mayer has always been a bit boxier than the usual elite shortstop prospect, but his hands and actions are so skillful and polished that he seemed likely to play there despite middling range. Perhaps because his mobility was compromised from the general discomfort of his shoulder issue, Mayer’s range backed up in 2023 and his arm accuracy was sometimes poor. He definitely looks trimmer in 2024 and the Red Sox appear to be positioning him closer to the hole so he can make more plays moving right to left. It isn’t sexy, but it works. Mayer’s footwork and actions are still very polished and the Red Sox have found a way to mask his mediocre range and arm strength (for shortstop). Things feel much more stable here than they did at the end of 2023. Hopefully Mayer will keep hitting Eastern League pitching and merit a promotion so we can watch him face and adjust to junkballing Triple-A veterans who might force him to make relevant adjustments. He’s tracking like a late 2025 or early 2026 debut.

 

ALiveH

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They project him as an "everyday shortstop" but "below the superstar level" - to me a prospect expected to be a league average SS starter (about 15th best in MLB, which would've been about 2.5 WAR in a typical year) at probably the most premium position on the diamond should warrant higher than a 43 ranking, probably in the 20-30 range, but what do I know.
 

koufax32

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He’s been out several days and finding a reason on the interwebs has been difficult. Anyone hear anything on him?