Next up on potential first-round draftees for the Red Sox this year at pick No. 4, is five-tool shortstop Marcelo Mayer.
Mayer might be the safest pick out of all position players, as the left-handed bat plays elite defense for someone his age while having a knack for hitting the ball hard.
On the offensive side, Mayer has drawn comparisons to Dodgers’ shortstop Corey Seager, a career .293 hitter who’s put up a career wRC+ of 130 through seven seasons in the majors. The 6-foot-3 prospect weighs in at 188 pounds, which is fairly similar to Seager, who stands at 6-foot-4 while weighing 215 pounds.
Mayer, 18, has been said to be one of, if not the best defender in this year’s draft. And like almost everyone we review, has the potential to be picked first overall. Defensively, he has drawn comparisons to Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford. Fangraphs calculates that Crawford has a career 74 DRS (defensive runs saved), while posting a career 47.1 UZR (ultimate zone rating).
The 18-year-old attends Eastlake high school in California, as MLB.com ranks him as the number one prospect in this year’s draft. The five-tool player is a Southern California commit, but with odds being he’s a top-five, if not top-three, or even the first pick, it’s highly unlikely he’ll become a USC Trojan.
Mayer will probably be in the top three, making it somewhat unlikely he is picked. In Fangraphs’ latest mock draft, Eric Logenhagen and Kevin Goldstein predict he will be first overall, while the Red Sox select Henry Davis. Despite that, there still is very much a possibility Mayer ends up in Boston.