WORCESTER—There will probably be too much going on at Polar Park Friday to squeeze in the inauguration ceremony for the city’s new Mayer.
The current one, Joseph M. Petty in official terms, will probably be among the crowd watching one of baseball’s most highly regarded prospects make his Triple-A debut.
That would be shortstop Marcelo Mayer.
It has been a while in the making. Mayer was one of the Worcester Red Sox’ quartet of sizzing prospects who were promoted to Triple-A in 2024. Kyle Teel has been traded, Kristian Campbell is with Boston and Roman Anthony is an Opening Day WooSox player.
Mayer was hurt, though, and never got into a game.
He spent the winter getting ready for Friday’s first pitch at 3:05.
“There was a lot of rehab between Fort Myers and San Diego (his home),” Mayer said before Thursday’s workout here. “I did a lot of things to get my body in a position to hopefully have a longer season.”
He has yet to play 100 games in a season. He dealt with wrist issues and back issues in 2022. Mayer missed the end of 2024 with a lumbar strain.
However, he just turned 22 in December. Mayer was Boston’s first-round draft choice in 2021. He spent last year at Double-A Portland and hit .307 with eight home runs, 38 RBIs and 13 stolen bases.
Mayer had a strong spring training. Even so, it was Campbell who was on the Boston roster when camp broke. So what. A year ago at his time, Mayer was at Portland. It is a long, long season.
“I know I had a really good spring,” he said, “and the coaches know as well. They recognize that. For me it is just continuing to get better and be ready when my opportunity comes.”
For WooSox manager Chad Tracy — for almost every Triple-A manager — having good players cuts both ways. Good players lead to a good record, but if they are too good, they wind up in the major leagues.
Tracy is hoping to work with a stable roster in 2025, and not just because of where Worcester sits in the standings. He wants Boston’s young players to excel, but does not want the big league team to necessarily need them.
“I hope we keep a larger portion than in the past,” he said, “because that means we’re having success. I think it’s fair to say that what happened here over the last few years in September has been, in some ways, a result of the big league team getting to a point Sepember with the idea that maybe we’ve fallen out of it, let’s give some auditions to the kids.
“If you get to September in first place, or leading in the wild card by a ways, typically you don’t want to mess with that roster too much.”
Among the notables at opening day, in addition to the Mayer and the Mayor, will be former Boston outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
As a variation on tradition, the WooSox might want Bradley to make a diving catch of the ceremonial first liner into the gap. A lot of good things happened during Bradley’s seasons with Boston.
The Sox won two World Series, he was the Most Valuable Player of the 2018 ALCS and had a 29-game hitting streak in 2016 when he was an All-Star.
The Syracuse Mets provide the opening day opposition. They are scheduled to be at Polar Park through Sunday, after which the WooSox head to Jacksonville.
This will be the second time Worcester starts the season at Polar Park. The WooSox also faced Syracuse in 2022. Overall they are 2-2 on opening day, 3-1 in home openers.
Other opening day tidbits:
— The WooSox are looking for their fifth straight winning season. They have not finished below .500 since starting play here in 2021. The only other International League team seeking a fifth consecutive season in the black is Nashville.
Worcester has the fourth best record in the 20-team IL starting with 2021 at 307-22, .536. Durham has the best mark at 323-247, .567. The Bulls, though, were 72-78 last year.
— Worcester will face two new opponents, the St. Paul Saints and Iowa Cubs. Both of those series will be played on the road. The WooSox visit St. Paul in July and Des Moines in August.
— The WooSox have played Syracuse a lot. Friday will be the 96th game between the two teams. Worcester leads the series, 52-43. The WooSox are 27-24 at home.
— Tracy will be merely the eighth manager to manage Boston’s Triple-A affiliate for as many as four seasons. He is tied on that list with Mike Higgins, who had two stints managing in Boston. The WooSox need to win 67 games to making just the organization’s ninth manager with at least 300 victories.
Bill Ballou covered the Red Sox for the Worcester Telegram from 1997 through 2018. He has covered pro hockey in Worcester since 1994 and currently does a weekly column for the Worcester Red Sox. Ballou can be reached at vetgoalie@aol.com
