Red Sox
Mayer recorded seven RBI in the Triple-A club’s blowout win Friday.
The Red Sox’ minor league strength over the last couple of years is well-documented.
Boston’s Triple-A affiliate, the Worcester Red Sox, continued the trend Friday afternoon against the Rochester Red Wings by exploding for 20 runs on 26 hits.
Shortstop Marcelo Mayer was one of many stars of the game, clobbering a grand slam to center field in the top of the second inning to give the WooSox an 8-0 lead early. The 22-year-old launched a no-doubter that was hit 108 miles per hour and went 400 feet.
Watch Mayer’s third home run of the season:
He ended up finishing the day 2-for-7 at the plate with seven RBI. But for Mayer, it was a much-needed productive offensive day. The former No. 4 overall draft pick entered Friday batting .193 through 14 games.
Worcester’s hottest hitters of the day were third baseman Vaughn Grissom and left fielder Tyler McDonough, who each went 5-for-6 in the batter’s box. Grissom, 24, continued his eye-popping season with four doubles and a homer in the victory. He’s batting .359 with a 1.023 OPS this season.
Watch his solo blast to give his team an 18-run lead:
Despite Boston’s currently crowded roster, Grissom is making a case to be promoted to the Red Sox. He played 31 games in the big-leagues in 2024 but struggled at the plate when he was healthy, batting .190 with 24 strikeouts.
Roman Anthony didn’t have as eruptive a day as Mayer and Grissom, but he did go 2-for-2 in his first pair of at-bats Friday. Anthony finished the day 2-for-5 with two strikeouts, but the 20-year-old is still raking at Triple-A this season. He’s batting .293 with a 1.000 OPS and has hit four home runs.
Anthony, who has been the WooSox’ designated hitter of late, is reportedly dealing with minor right shoulder soreness, according to the Boston Sports Journal’s Chris Henrique. The Red Sox have opted to keep him out of the outfield for the time being as a precaution, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, but he should be back with a glove soon.
Anthony has played each outfield position at least twice in 2025.
Given Anthony’s sustained success in the minors, it feels inevitable that we will get called up at some point in the near future (and when his shoulder heals). In that event, the Red Sox will need to make some difficult decisions with their active roster to make room for the young phenom.
Under the assumption that Boston plays Anthony in the outfield, Ceddanne Rafaela would likely be the odd man out of the primary OF. Rafaela has primarily played center field with Jarren Duran in left and Wilyer Abreu in right this season.
Given that he’s also familiar with the infield (82 games at SS in ’24), Rafaela could become a super utility player, or simply become the Red Sox’ fourth OF.
Boston doesn’t appear to be ready to make any of the changes listed above or come up with another solution for the sake of promoting Anthony right now, especially as he deals with an injury. An injury to essentially any infielder or outfielder on the active roster could force the club’s hand sooner, though.
Entering Friday’s game against the White Sox, the Red Sox sit at .500 20 games into the season. They aren’t in a spot where a roster shakeup is imminent, but it’s reasonable to assume changes will come at some point with Anthony waiting in the wings.
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