Thursday’s Red Sox game was not televised, so unless you were at the ballpark in Lakeland, Florida, chances are you weren’t able to see the club’s talented prospects take the field against the Detroit Tigers’ big leaguers.
Yet thanks to the wonders of modern technology, Thursday still provided an illuminating new look at Boston’s most promising youngsters.
Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium, the spring home of the Tigers, is among the handful of Grapefruit League facilities equipped with Statcast technology. That means fans, players and coaches alike got a rare glimpse of the prospects’ raw metrics, including things like exit velocity and hit distance for the hitters and detailed pitching data for the arms.
Marcelo Mayer certainly made the most of the opportunity to showcase his skills.
The former No. 4 overall pick shined in the Red Sox’s 6-5 win, going 3 for 3 with a home run, a triple and three RBI. Mayer’s first time up he smoked a deep fly ball 103.6 mph off the bat against Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty, which went 408 feet for an RBI triple and would have been a home run in 19 of 30 MLB parks. His second time up he hit a bloop single off right-hander Kenta Maeda.
Not bad considering those two are both established MLB veterans with top-five Cy Young finishes to their name.
Mayer finished his day with a sky high two-run home run to right field in the top of the fifth, which had a minuscule .010 expected batting average and probably should have been a flyout, but which was helped over the fence by the wind.
That shot came right after Roman Anthony made his own mark.
After grounding out and flying out in his first two at bats, Anthony got a second look at Maeda in the fifth and crushed an RBI double 395 feet to center field. He finished 1 for 3 on the day with the RBI and a run scored, improving his batting average to .364 on the spring through four Grapefruit League games.
Kristian Campbell didn’t have nearly as loud a performance, going 0 for 2 with two strikeouts, but he also worked an eight-pitch walk against Flaherty in the top of the first, setting up Mayer’s triple. Campbell remains hitless through three Grapefruit League games, having gone 0 for 5 with two walks and three strikeouts.
Coming off a strong debut last Saturday, Quinn Priester delivered again in his second spring outing. The 24-year-old threw two scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks with one strikeout against many of the Tigers’ projected MLB starters.
Priester initially ran into trouble in the bottom of the first after loading the bases with one out, but was able to escape unscathed after drawing a double play turned by David Hamilton at shortstop. He then worked around a two-out walk in the second to wrap up his day.
The right-hander threw 35 pitches, including 20 for strikes, and had six whiffs on the day. His best pitch was his slider, which he threw six time for three swings and two whiffs, and his fastball averaged 94.1 mph, topping out at just under 96.
David Hamilton was the exit velocity king of the afternoon, hammering a 2-1 fastball from Will Vest 108.2 mph off the bat for a no doubter of a solo home run in the top of the sixth. Hamilton finished the day 1 for 3 and also had the nice double play in the first to continue his strong start to the spring.
Overall the Red Sox had three homers as a team. In addition to Mayer and Hamilton, Trayce Thompson also went deep for a solo shot in the sixth. Thompson went 2 for 3 with the homer, two runs scored and an RBI.
Pitching against his former team, Michael Fulmer took the mound for his second spring outing and threw two scoreless. The 31-year-old, who won AL Rookie of the Year and earned an All-Star nod in a Tigers uniform, allowed just one walk with no hits over the fifth and sixth innings, striking out two in the process.
Fulmer’s fastball sat 91-92 mph, though he mainly leaned on his cutter, which he threw 17 times out of 29 pitches while drawing seven swings and two whiffs. Overall Fulmer has now thrown 3.2 scoreless innings, his first action since undergoing UCL revision surgery in his pitching elbow in late 2023.
Josh Winckowski allowed one run over two innings, with the damage primarily coming off a solo home run by Jake Rogers in the fourth. Isaiah Campbell was charged with three runs on two hits and two walks over 0.1 innings in the seventh, Jacob Webb threw 1.2 scoreless with one hit, and minor leaguer Hobie Harris closed things out with one run allowed in the bottom of the ninth.
In addition to Statcast, the Tigers’ spring training ballpark is also among those testing the new Automated Ball-Strike System. Boston was twice victimized by the electronic strike zone, as the Tigers successfully converted their first two challenge attempts.
The first came in the top of the second when a 2-2 Jack Flaherty fastball to Trayce Thompson was called a ball, but upon ABS review the call was overturned for strike three to end the inning. The second came under similar circumstances in the top of the fourth, when David Hamilton was sent down on strike three after a successful challenge for the innings’ second out.
The Red Sox also attempted a pair of challenges but were unsuccessful on both.
Most of Boston’s top prospects are expected to spend the night in the Tampa Bay area before taking the field again in Clearwater on Friday against the Phillies. Garrett Crochet is scheduled to start for the Red Sox against new Philadelphia left-hander Jesus Luzardo, and Richard Fitts, Yovanny Cruz, Robert Stock and Brian Van Belle are all expected to take the mound as well.
First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WEEI 850 AM.