In a whirlwind day, Marcelo Mayer made his Red Sox debut Saturday night at Fenway Park against the Baltimore Orioles.
After making the drive from Worcester, Mass., to Boston, Mayer, in the bright yellow City Connect jersey, took the field at third base at the top of the first inning.
“It’s awesome,” Mayer told reporters after Boston’s 2-1 loss, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “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.”
When Mayer stepped into the batter’s box for the first time in the bottom of the second inning, the Fenway Faithful of 34,604 erupted with a standing ovation for the top prospect.
Unfortunately, the moment didn’t follow the script, and Mayer, who batted sixth for Boston, struck out looking in his first Major League at-bat. Defensively, Mayer was solid at third base, but offensively, the 22-year-old was 0-for-4 from the dish with three strikeouts.
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“It’s the big leagues,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “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.”
Even though Mayer was unable to register a hit in his first game, he told reporters he felt good at the plate.
“I wouldn’t say I was nervous,” he said. “I just feel like I tried to do too much, and I feel like next time, I’ve got to do a better job with that. But with that being said, I’ve never experienced anything like that, so it was really fun.”
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