Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony‘s Major League Baseball debuts are a matter of when and not if. And with the Red Sox sitting at .500 and struggling at times at the plate, many have wondered whether one or both of Boston’s top prospects should get the call to the big leagues sooner rather than later.
Anthony is batting .298 while Mayer is batting .275 in Triple-A Worcester. So it’s fair to believe the duo would provide a jolt to the lineup.
But Alex Cora doesn’t believe the 22-22 Red Sox need that.
“No, we need to execute pitches,” Cora said during his weekly appearance on WEEI. “I think that’s the most important thing, especially in the later part of the game. There’s been a lot of damage done against us. You can go to the series against Minnesota, right? We lost that one. We had a chance to get them two out of three, even sweep them, right? And we didn’t execute pitches.”
The Red Sox, much like in previous seasons, have struggled with runners in scoring position. The offense put up nine runs on Tuesday, but the bullpen blew three leads en route to the extra-inning loss to the Detroit Tigers.
Cora acknowledged that Mayer and Anthony are both “really good at what they do,” but the players on Boston’s roster currently are doing a fine job.
“I think defense can improve,” Cora said. “And obviously the pitching part of it — especially when we have the lead late in games.”
Another problem the Red Sox would run into if they called up the two prospects is where they would play. While Trevor Story has struggled at points this season, Cora doesn’t seem in any rush to move him off shortstop. The outfield, meanwhile, is pretty well stocked.
It won’t be a surprise to see both Mayer and Anthony in a Red Sox uniform at some point this season, but Cora — for now, anyway — is content with the roster he has and is giving them a chance to find their groove.
