The Boston Red Sox have a massive problem at first base. First of all, starting first baseman Triston Casas had struggled all season. He looked to be a glaring hole in the lineup, but the young infielder went down with a gruesome knee injury that required immediate surgery. With the hole at first base even wider now, the Red Sox needed to find a solution immediately.
After Rafael Devers shot down the idea of playing there, Boston is reportedly working top prospect Kristian Campbell at the position. Ahead of rivalry weekend, Campbell was seen taking reps at first base, working on footwork, and doing some drills on multiple occasions.
With Devers off the table, Campbell seems like the clear top choice for the position. He's a solid infielder, but he's not good enough defensively to be too valuable at second base.
If this decision works out for the Red Sox, it would also likely lead to the promotion of one of the best prospects in the sport.
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Kristian Campbell position change could indicate Marcelo Mayer promotion
If Campbell comes off second base and slides over to first to fill in for Casas, who's going to play second base?
The clear answer is top infield prospect Marcelo Mayer.
Mayer, 22, crushed Double-A pitching last season. In 77 games, he slashed .307/.370/.480 with eight home runs and a staggering 28 doubles. While numbers like this are hard to top, it seems like the talented infielder is off to an even better start in 2025.
After putting together a solid spring training, Mayer was sent to Triple-A. In 37 Triple-A games, he's slashing .274/.341/.486. To make it even better, Mayer has already topped his 2024 total in RBIs with 39 and tied his 2024 total in home runs with eight.
It's past time to bring him up to the big leagues. He's ready for it, but the Red Sox haven't had room for him. With Casas down, it seems like Boston is ready to make room for the talented infielder, but it's all going to hinge on if Campbell can play first base well enough to stay there for the time being.
If Campbell fits in at first, we could see a very young and very talented right side of the infield in Boston in the near future.