Boston's Big Three make Red Sox Opening Day roster decision even tougher

Most of the conversation around Boston Red Sox spring training has focused on the team's third-base situation, specifically whether Alex Bregman will be able to take his rightful place at the hot corner and bump incumbent slugger Rafael Devers to DH duties. (So far: sure seems like it.) But that's not the only difficult roster decision that Alex Cora and Co. are facing in the run-up to Opening Day.

There's also the matter of one of baseball's best farm systems, one highlighted by three of the top prospects in the sport: outfielder Roman Anthony, shortstop Marcelo Mayer and second baseman (and occasional outfielder) Kristian Campbell. All three look just about ready to blossom into stars at the Major League level, but the team's depth chart is such that it's unclear where exactly they could fit them even if they wanted to.

Of course, "too much talent" is always a good problem to have. But if Boston was hoping that their Big Three would help them out with an uneven spring, well, think again — especially after Thursday's display.

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Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer all show out in attempt to make Red Sox Opening Day roster

The Red Sox took part in one of MLB's Spring Breakout games on Thursday night, pitting a team of their top prospects against counterparts from the Tampa Bay Rays. That meant all three of Anthony, Campbell and Mayer were in the lineup in front of a national TV audience, and they wasted no time showing that they want to be up in the Show on Opening Day.

They got the party started early, as Campbell and Mayer went back-to-back in the top of the third inning.

Anthony didn't want to feel left out, so he got in on the action too, launching a dinger of his own in the fifth.

Mayer (1.070 OPS) and Anthony (.450 OBP) are both off to strong starts this spring, but it's hard to find a clean roster fit for them given the presence of mainstays at shortstop (Trevor Story) and left field (likely Jarren Duran) that would make them bench players — hardly the best use of two prospects who could still use a little seasoning in the Minors. The best fit from a need perspective is Campbell, given the question mark Boston still has at second base, but he's struggled with the bat a bit this spring and is the greenest of the three.

Red Sox fans understandably want to see all three young talents in Boston as soon as possible, especially after Thursday's glimpse into the future. But the likeliest scenario remains that all three open at Triple-A; it's a marathon of a season, and injuries and inconsistency are bound to create more permanent needs at the big-league level, needs that all three players will be better able to fill after having built up some momentum in the Minors.