The second of the Red Sox ‘Big Three’ gets the call to the Majors

The Boston Red Sox youth movement is taking a major step forwards on Saturday. Shortstop Marcelo Mayer is getting called up to the Major Leagues to make his MLB debut, Worcester Red Sox manager Chad Tracy confirmed Saturday afternoon.

Mayer, 22, was drafted by the Red Sox fourth overall in the 2021 MLB Draft, making him the highest-drafted position player in franchise history. At the time of his call-up Mayer is the third-ranked prospect in the team's system according to SoxProspects.com (and will move to second when the rankings update in June), and the eighth-ranked prospect in all of baseball according to MLB.com.

This season was Mayer's at the Triple-A level, and he's spent the entire spring with the WooSox. In 43 games he's slashed .271/.347/.471 with nine home runs and 43 runs driven in.

Initially in Boston Mayer will likely slot in at third base following Alex Bregman's injury on Friday night. Earlier in the day on Saturday Red Sox manager Alex Cora did not rule out an IL stint for Bregman, with that potentially being the move to open up the roster spot for Mayer. He could be in the lineup as soon as Saturday night, when the Red Sox play the second half of a double-header against the Baltimore Orioles (scheduled 6:35 p.m. first pitch).

Once Bregman does return, the Red Sox will have options where to play Mayer. He could move over to short and replace the struggling Trevor Story, or play second base and bump Kristian Campbell over to first base.

With Mayer getting called up the Red Sox now have two of what have been known as the 'Big Three' prospects with their Major League ballclub as Mayer joins Campbell. The final prospect still in Worcester is outfielder Roman Anthony, who is ranked No. 1 both in the Red Sox system and in all of baseball.