Those who believe the future is bright for the Boston Red Sox got plenty more evidence Thursday afternoon in Lakeland, Fla.
The Red Sox rolled out a lineup for their spring training game against the Detroit Tigers that featured their "Big Three" prospect trio of Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer batting first, second and third, respectively.
And Mayer in particular put on a show.
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The 22-year-old infielder, who is MLB.com's No. 12 overall prospect and ranks 15th on Baseball America's Top 100, went 3-for-3 with a run scored and three RBI, tallying an RBI triple, a single and a two-run home run to finish a double shy of the cycle.
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Mayer's triple came off right-hander Jack Flaherty, who boasts a 3.63 ERA over eight MLB seasons and posted a 3.17 ERA last season.
Mayer's next two hits -- including his two-run homer -- came off right-hander and eight-year MLB veteran Kenta Maeda.
Have a game, Marcelo Mayer!
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) February 27, 2025
MLB's No. 12 prospect swats a two-run homer and rips an RBI triple on a three-hit day for the @RedSox. pic.twitter.com/d1yfCkkKqV
Mayer's home run scored Anthony -- the No. 2 prospect in all of baseball, per MLB.com -- who got on base via an RBI double.
"You can tell the moment is not big. He's very comfortable in the environment," manager Alex Cora said of Mayer after the game, via WEEI's Rob Bradford. "He's a good player. I truly believe -- I was talking to Tek (Red Sox game planning coordinator and former catcher Jason Varitek) -- the higher the level, the better he is going to be.
"Sometimes people don't talk about him, kind of like he's the forgotten one. He's still a freaking good player."
Mayer, Anthony and Campbell all are expected to begin the 2025 season in the minor leagues; Trevor Story and newcomer Alex Bregman likely will occupy shortstop and second base, respectively, while the outfield should feature Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu.
But if all three prospects put up big numbers in spring training and the minors early in the season, we may not have to wait long to see their first major league at-bats.