Are the Red Sox putting too much pressure on the “Big 3”
On Sunday the Boston Red Sox made waves promoting their big 3 prospects of Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kyle Teel. The big three are the Sox top three prospects and all 3 are top 100 prospects in MLB, the Red Sox have been billing them as the big three over the last year and now promoting them all to Triple-A together it really emphasizes how much the team is putting on the young players plates.
Marcelo Mayer is currently the 6th ranked prospect in all of baseball and is viewed as the Red Sox shortstop of the future. Roman Anthony is the 13th ranked prospect in all of baseball a power hitting outfielder who has skyrocketed up the prospect rankings. Kyle Teel is the 23rd ranked prospect in baseball a catcher with tremendous upside that’s been quickly making his way up the Sox farm system. While all three players show tremendous upside and have handled every task the Sox have thrown at them so far, the team is really putting the pressure on them to be the saviors of a storied organization who has seriously struggled in the second half in recent memory.
This is a major adjustment period for Sox fans who grew up with the team spending money hand over fist to improve the roster, now Sox fans are expected to wait for draft picks to develop and get the team over the hump when they do arrive. While I do believe the Sox have developed their talent and drafted well it’s still tough to believe as a Red Sox fan we’re putting so much faith and pressure on 3 kids to get the franchise back competing for titles on a yearly basis.
The story of the big three is a great one they seem to genuinely embrace the pressure and expectations that are being thrown at them. But is it too much to ask for them all to continue to handle the weight of these expectations with no hiccups? The Red Sox needed a feel good story after Jarren Duran was suspended two games for using a homophobic slur against the Rangers. Teel, Anthony and Mayer should be that feel good story for Sox fans but it’s tough not to think the pressure is a lot to ask to resuscitate a team and a fan base that is desperately looking for superstar talent on the roster.
