Marcelo Mayer, Red Sox farm system earn rave reviews in Keith Law’s prospect rankings

Marcelo Mayer was tabbed as the No. 2 prospect in baseball in Keith Law's latest rankings.

The future continues to look bright for the Red Sox when it comes to Marcelo Mayer and the rest of Boston’s stacked prospect pipeline.

Keith Law of The Athletic released his latest top 60 MLB prospect rankings on Thursday, with five Red Sox prospects landing in the top 50.

Law in particular had plenty of praise for shortstop Marcelo Mayer, with the 21-year-old tabbed as the No. 2 prospect in all of baseball behind only Orioles phenom Jackson Holliday.

“Mayer has been hitting all season, but he’s had even better results in June and so far in July, even with some continued trouble with sliders down and in or below the zone,” Law wrote of Mayer. “He’s still a plus defender at short and making a ton of hard contact, coming into the plus power that scouts foresaw from him back when he was the top prospect in the 2021 draft.

“I doubt he sees the majors this year, and it’s not necessary for his development, but I also don’t think it’s out of the question.”

Mayer, who was tabbed as the No. 8 prospect in baseball in Law’s preseason rankings, has thrived this season with Double-A Portland. Entering Friday afternoon, Mayer is slashing .306/.371/.481 with 27 doubles, eight home runs, and 38 RBI over 74 games.

The rest of Boston’s “Big Three” blue-chip prospects in catcher Kyle Teel and outfielder Roman Anthony also saw their stock rise in Law’s rankings. Teel — who advanced to Double-A in short order after getting drafted 14th overall in the 2023 MLB Draft — went from No. 54 in Law’s preseason ranking to No. 19.

“Teel looks like he’s very close to major-league-ready, as he’s hitting .305/.391/.470 in Double A in his first full year in pro ball with solid-average defense, and I don’t think there’s much projection here to make you want to hold off on promoting him to the big leagues,” Law wrote of Teel. “He’s even hit lefties well in a small sample, (partly) addressing one of the bigger concerns about him as a draft prospect.

“I don’t think there’s big power or any other plus tools coming, but I see a strong regular at a position of need for Boston right now.”

Fellow Sea Dogs regular Anthony, who just turned 20 in May, was ranked just behind Teel with the No. 21 spot in Law’s rankings.

“Anthony still has one of the best swings in the minors and makes hard, line-drive contact, but Double-A pitchers are attacking him with all kinds of offspeed stuff and he hasn’t quite made the adjustment yet,” Law wrote.

In his last 20 games, through Sunday, he’s hitting .185/.264/.395 with a 25.2 percent strikeout rate.

“A small sample, but I present it just as a quick snapshot, and in that period he’s seeing more non-fastballs because the scouting report on him is pretty clear. He just turned 20 in May and has plenty of time to make this adjustment too.”

While Mayer, Teel, and Anthony have long dominated any talk regarding Boston’s farm system, they might have some company.

Kristian Campbell has continued to tee off against pitching this season between High-A Greenville and Double-A Portland — earning him the No. 46 spot on Law’s list.

“Maybe the biggest breakout prospect in the minors this year, Campbell was a fourth-round pick last year out of Georgia Tech, where he played 45 games in one season as a redshirt freshman,” Law wrote of Campbell. “He’s an excellent athlete who destroyed High A to start 2024, moved up to Double A in June, and has hit .388/.488/.590 at the higher level with just a 17 percent strikeout rate.”

Not to be outdone, the Red Sox’ latest top draft pick in slugging outfielder Braden Montgomery has also received high praise from Law and other prospect evaluators.

Law listed Montgomery — who batted .322 with 27 home runs and 85 RBI over 61 games last season with Texas A&M — as one of the top steals of the 2024 MLB Draft.

“Montgomery was the No. 4 player on my board going into the draft, but ended up going 12th overall to the Red Sox, in part because his spring ended in the super regionals when he broke his ankle,” Law wrote. “He was a two-way player at Stanford who gave up pitching this spring after he transferred to Texas A&M.

“He showed plus power from both sides of the plate, with a better swing left-handed and solid defense in right. I think there’s growth potential here, more than is typical for a 21-year-old SEC product.”