
The Boston Red Sox hope Marcelo Mayer will be part of the team's future core for a long time and fans got their first glimpse of the young prospect at the big-league level over the last week. Mayer was called up after Alex Bregman hit the IL with a quad injury and made his debut on May 24. He has looked every bit the part of a 22-year-old call-up, with flashes of greatness mixed in during a clear adjustment period.
However, the Red Sox had not formally welcomed Mayer to the club in the way tradition demands. On Saturday, it was revealed manager Alex Cora had a classy reason for that.