MLB Notebook: Red Sox’ Marcelo Mayer makes big league debut, Carlos Narváez exceeding expectations, a look down on the farm and more

Marcelo Mayer received word Saturday afternoon that he was getting promoted to the big leagues. The Sox’ top infield prospect was added to the 40-man roster after third baseman Alex Bregman landed on the 10-day injured list with a significant right quad injury.

Mayer, who was held out of the WooSox’ lineup for their first game of a doubleheader from Polar Park, was called into Chad Tracy’s office and said, “It would be difficult to start Game 2 here if you’re going to be active in Fenway tonight.”

The first phone call Mayer made was to his father, calling the moment on the phone with him “surreal.”

“The emotions were running pretty high,” he said. “It’s something me and my family have worked towards ever since I started playing the game, so it was a moment that I definitely wanted to share with them before it got out to the media.”

Due to the timing of his promotion, his parents weren’t able to be in attendance at Fenway Park to watch him make his Major League debut but are expected to be in attendance for Sunday afternoon’s game.

While he was excited about becoming a big leaguer and preparing to travel to Boston for the second game of the Red Sox doubleheader, Mayer had a realization. He lost his car keys. Nearly three weeks ago, the prospect misplaced his car keys and showed no urgency to locate them. The WooSox’ players live across the street from Polar Park at a newly built apartment complex. He parked his vehicle outside the ballpark.

One of the WooSox’ clubbies, who also serves as a bat boy, drove Mayer to Boston.

“The clubbie was making jokes to, like, get a police escort to get everybody out of the way because he was getting more nervous than me,” Mayer said with a chuckle.

The infielder used that time to soak in the moment and get back in touch with everyone sending him phone calls and texts.

“I was just really answering all the texts I got,” Mayer said about the trip here in the passenger’s seat. “So I used it as a time to kind of chill and answer all my family and my friends.”

Mayer started Game 2 of the doubleheader, batting sixth and playing third base.

Mayer can play shortstop, second base, and third. The Red Sox, as of now, plan to take advantage of his versatility. In his first game, Mayer wore the bright yellow Nike City Connect jersey and quickly got involved in the game, fielding a grounder off the bat from Orioles’ Ramón Urías, who threw the ball across the diamond to a familiar face, former WooSox teammate Nick Sogard at first base.

“My job here is to do whatever I can to help the team win,” he said. “I’m going to go out every single day and give it 100%, give it my all, and then hopefully that’s enough.”

In the second inning, 34,604 fans erupted and gave Mayer a standing ovation. Mayer stepped into the batter’s box, looking calm and cool, staring back at Orioles southpaw Trevor Rogers, notably chewing gum as he waited for the first pitch. The first pitch he saw as a big leaguer was a 92.5 mph sinker down and away. He would take the next two pitches, all thrown away, still looking calm and collected, but Rogers would win the battle. Rogers threw three straight pitches over the heart of the plate, not offering to any of the pitches, striking out looking.

“It’s awesome,” Mayer told reporters after Boston’s 2-1 loss Saturday night. “I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life. … It’s definitely something I will remember for the rest of my life. You just feel like a rush throughout your whole body, but at the same time, it’s kind of hard to take it in because you have to do a job.”

Mayer finished the day 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

“It’s the big leagues,” Alex Cora said following the game. “It was a great experience for him. Played good defense. Obviously, offensively, not much happened, but he’s a big leaguer, and nobody can take that away from him.”

“It’s awesome to play for a city like this that cares so much about their team and is so passionate about the Red Sox and the Red Sox winning,” he added of the Fenway Faithful. “It kind of holds everybody to a higher level of play, and it’s something that I’m looking forward to playing for.”

NARVÁEZ EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS

If you had Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez batting out of the cleanup spot this season on your bingo card, kudos to you. Entering the season, the catching position was one of the weakest spots on the roster after trading Kyle Teel and others to the White Sox for Garrett Crochet. 

They went with Connor Wong entering 2025 as the starter and an unknown in Narváez as his backup.

Wong has been a disappointment, hitting .149 with a .394 OPS in 47 at-bats (20 games). He missed some time on the injured list with a broken pinky, which allowed Narváez to step in and shine.

Entering play on Saturday, Narvaez was batting .291 with five home runs, 17 RBI, and an .837 OPS, and since April 18 he’s batted .349 with all five of his homers and a 1.015 OPS over 24 games. He’s posted an impressive 1.9 Wins Above Replacement, which is tied for second in MLB among catchers who have played at least half of their games at the position, behind only Mariners slugger Cal Raleigh.

Cora penciled Narváez into the cleanup spot for Game 1 of the doubleheader, where he went 1-for-4 with one strikeout. Wong started Game 2 and went 0-for-2 with a walk in the Sox’ 2-1 loss to the Orioles.

Narváez’s defense has been impressive; he owns a plus-eight defensive runs saved, is tied with Giants catcher Patrick Bailey for the best of any catcher in the game, and is tied for fifth-best in MLB across all positions, according to Baseball Savant.

“So far so good. He will struggle at one point; hopefully he doesn’t, but this is a league that makes adjustments,” said Cora. “One thing that he does pretty well, he has a plan, and he sticks to it. The other thing he has too is he can hit a line drive to right field whenever he feels like it. He can stay inside and take a single, and when you have that, you can survive when things are not going great.”

Cora remains adamant that right now the Sox’ catching situation is a two-person tandem between Wong and Narváez, but it’s becoming clearer by the day; the rookie is going to supplant the starter and get the lion's share of the starts. Entering Saturday's doubleheader, he had started 11 of the club's prior 12 games; Boston is 21-14 in games that Narvaez has started.

DOWN ON THE FARM

Now that Mayer is in Boston, Red Sox fans are eagerly anticipating when Roman Anthony will make his big league debut for the Red Sox.

Anthony is slashing .317/.452/.518 with eight doubles, two triples, and seven home runs. He's driven in 19 runs, scored 37 more, and stolen three bases.

Boston still has no room for Anthony with Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu as their starting outfielders; the top prospect continues to deliver offensively, and it’s only a matter of time before he calls Fenway Park home.

The Sox should consider using Rafaela in more of a super utility man role, maximizing his positional versatility at second base, shortstop, third base, and center field to make room for Anthony’s scorching hot bat.

Jhostynxon Garcia, one of the Red Sox’ most exciting prospects in the system, made his Triple-A debut this week, and it was a memorable one.

Nicknamed “The Password,” he belted a three-run home run in the eighth inning, traveling 107 mph off the bat over the left field berm, to cap off an impressive first game with the WooSox.

His brother, Johanfran, made his return to the field for the first time in 13 months after missing time recovering from knee surgery. On May 3, 2024, while he was enjoying a scorching start with Low-A Salem, he sustained a torn ligament in his knee while running the bases, which caused him to miss the rest of the season.

“I was really happy for him,” Garcia said via translator (and WooSox bench Iggy Suarez) on Tuesday from Polar Park. “It’s at the point where it’s been a year and a month for him for him coming back...I’m extremely happy.”

With Mayer in Boston, Garcia will hit towards the upper half of the WooSox’ lineup behind Anthony.

[I’m] happy to be on a team with this much talent,“ Garcia said. ”[I’m] in a situation where [I] can learn a lot from them and [we can] just learn from each other. [We’ll] be able to push each other.”

Blaze Jordan has been tearing the cover off the ball, going 1-for-3 with a double (9) and a walk in the Sea Dogs’ 4-1 win on Saturday afternoon. The 22-year-old is slashing .365/.467/.651 with five home runs and 16 RBI in over 75 plate appearances in the month of May.

Left-handed starter Connelly Early improved to 4-0 after another strong start for the Sea Dogs on Saturday. He went five innings, allowing one hit and no runs with four walks and nine strikeouts. He threw 84 pitches and lowered his ERA. His impressive performance lowered his ERA to an eye-popping 1.55 mark, with 47 strikeouts compared to 15 walks and a 0.97 WHIP. Opponents are hitting just .135 against the southpaw this season.

Tyler Uberstine was excellent in his second start for the WooSox; hurling five innings, allowing five hits and no runs or walks, with seven strikeouts. Over 39 2/3 innings split between the Sea Dogs and WooSox, he has a 3.40 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, with 47 strikeouts to eight walks.

Noah Song threw an inning for Low-A Salem, his second rehab appearance of the season. He allowed just one hit with no runs, hits, or walks allowed with two strikeouts.

Mikey Romero is a name to keep an eye on for a possible promotion to Triple-A Worcester now that Mayer is expected to spend a considerable amount of time with Bregman down.

Romero is slashing .256/.329/.474 with 10 doubles, two triples, and five home runs. He's driven in 18 RBI, scoring 25 runs, with three stolen bases. The left-handed hitting infielder has 14 walks in 133 plate appearances.

Hayden Mullins received a promotion to Double-A Portland and made his team debut on May 1. The left-hander allowed one run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked four batters and struck out a career-high 10.

Mullins has a 1.19 ERA, .177 BAA, and 0.93 WHIP in five appearances (four starts). He's struck out 37 batters compared to just seven walks in 22 2/3 frames.

Miguel Bleis went 2-for-3 hitting his fifth homer and drove in two more RBI (28), with a walk, and stolen base (7) on Saturday. The right-handed hitting outfielder is slashing .231/.311/.He has a batting average of .427, with six doubles and five home runs.en in 28 runs, 22 runs scored, and has seven stolen bases.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

The baseball season is approaching Memorial Day on its calendar, marking it roughly one-third of the way in. Yankees slugger Aaron Judge looks like the clear-cut American League MVP favorite, looking like a one-man bulldozer, demolishing pitching and leading just about every offensive category. He was the first player in the AL to belt 18 homers and is hitting .395 through his first 50 games. The nine-year, $360 million deal Judge signed with the Bronx Bombers in 2022 appears to be an exceptional value for Brian Cashman.

The Paul Skenes trade rumors are embarrassing. No one seriously thinks the Pirates will trade their ace in his first full season in Pittsburgh. There’s an argue in the future that can be made about trading him based off the Pirates ownership never paying their players and ultimately trading them for a prospect haul and continuing this never-ending cycle they’re under. One reason to keep Skenes is he’s cheap, making just $875,000 and the only real season Bucs fans are showing up to the beautiful PNC Park.

Juan Soto received one of the biggest contracts in baseball history this winter and to begin the season. He hasn’t exactly transitioned well into Queens entering play on Saturday 5-for-42 (.119) with runners in scoring position. Soto just missed crushing a grand slam in the fourth inning, tagging the wall in right-center collecting a two-run double, earning cheers from the Mets’ faithful, something he hasn’t heard much of this season.

Ronald Acuna Jr. made his return to the Braves lineup and hit a dramatic home run swinging at the first pitch he saw, sending it 467 feet into the left-field seats. It was his first blast in 364 days. Recovering from ACL surgery has kept the superstar sidelined.

“He’s one of those players where you better not go get a beer or anything because you might miss something cool,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s that kind of force in the game. He’s going to energize everybody.”

Spencer Strider made his return to the Braves rotation coming off the IL after he suffered a hamstring injury and was rocked by the Nationals this week. Strider surrendered four earned runs, six hits and one walk while striking out three batters across 4 1/3  innings during the Braves’ loss.

The right-hander didn’t have his best stuff and took full accountability for his performance.

“I don’t enjoy failing, and certainly not at the expense of the team,” Strider said after his second start coming off the IL. “We sent a pretty good guy down (Bryce Elder) that was supposed to pitch in my spot. That’s not lost on me. It’s kind of the nature of the game. I think it’s important to have that perspective that the goal is to win. That takes 26 guys. The guy who’s starting on the mound is a big component in coming out and winning every day, so if I can’t be better, I don’t need to be out there. I certainly want to play, but I take no joy in not giving us a chance. If I don’t feel like I can’t provide for the team, then I don’t take much pleasure in losing games for us.”

Mariners ace George Kirby made his 2025 season debut this week after spending 11 weeks on the IL with right shoulder inflammation. The Astros crushed the Mariners 9-2, and Kirby took the loss. Kirby ended up going 3 2/3 innings and was lifted after being unable to escape a jam in the fourth. He exited following 72 pitches and allowed five earned runs. He walked one and struck out four.

“It felt great to be back out there," said Kirby "My body feels good. Just didn’t go the way I wanted to tonight, but it’s a great step,” Kirby said. “And just being back with the boys, being with the team. Just got to do my job next time.”