whom the Giants acquired from Boston<\/a> at the Aug. 3 trade deadline. \u201cThat\u2019s usually the first thing I do when I get home in the offseason. So I was able to get one two months early.\u201d<\/p>\nThe Giants have an appetite, too. They are undermanned on the infield now that Casey Schmitt has undergone season-ending left knee surgery, third baseman Matt Chapman is likely headed for season-ending sports hernia surgery and All-Star second baseman Luis Arraez is winning new fans in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
Even if the Giants have to ride out choppy weather for the remainder of the season with a reduced roster, it might feel a bit smoother to watch potential stars like Bryce Eldridge and Mayer offer promise of better days ahead.<\/p>\n
Multiple injuries kept Mayer from making the impact that Red Sox fans expected after the team drafted him with the No. 4 pick in 2021. But he hasn\u2019t done anything to be a disappointment in San Francisco. Standing in front of his new locker in the Giants clubhouse Saturday morning, Mayer agreed that a change of scenery might benefit him as he seeks to reach his potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just super excited for the opportunity that I have here,\u201d said Mayer, whose last name is pronounced MY-er. \u201cObviously, being back on the West Coast, being comfortable, close to family, I\u2019m just super excited. The guys have welcomed me with open arms. I\u2019m excited to get going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayer was drafted out of Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, and barely missed playing with Schmitt, who graduated when Mayer was in the ninth grade.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a small community where we live, and there\u2019s a lot of great baseball talent,\u201d Mayer said. \u201cSo we all know each other, and the baseball world is pretty small. I\u2019ve known Casey pretty much my whole life. I mean, he was on the best Eastlake baseball team that\u2019s ever played. So he\u2019s pretty much (a) legend over there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayer also knows Rafael Devers, whom the Giants acquired from the Red Sox last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of the best hitters I\u2019ve ever been around,\u201d Mayer said. \u201cTo have him here as a resource and as a teammate, I\u2019m super excited for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayer was Boston\u2019s opening day second baseman and struggled to a .594 OPS before he was shut down in late June with the forearm injury, which he chalked up to overswinging in the cage. He began taking swings against high velocity over the past few days and will join Triple-A Sacramento in Las Vegas next week to start a rehab assignment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel way better,\u201d Mayer said. \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve turned the corner.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayer started drills with renowned infield coach Ron Washington on Friday and was at it again on Saturday, kneeling in the grass and using a pancake-shaped training glove to pick throws. He can play shortstop, but his best positions are third and second, where he is likely to see the most time.<\/p>\n
And yes, he noticed that the Giants\u2019 next trip, which begins in Cleveland, will finish with a three-game series at Fenway Park. The Aug. 21-23 series has been circled on the calendar for months because it will be Devers\u2019 first games in Boston as a visiting player. Now it\u2019s set up to be a double feature.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely thought about it,\u201d Mayer said. \u201cThat would be for sure a good experience. But before that, I\u2019ve just got to make sure that I\u2019m ready to play and healthy and doing whatever I can to help the team win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giants manager Tony Vitello described Mayer as \u201con a mission,\u201d and said the team \u201cwill be here to pull the potential out of him because \u2026 he can do a lot of dynamic things on the field, but I think (the goal is) adding consistency to that, and increasing those moments that make him a standout player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayer described his process as \u201cgetting back to doing things that I was doing in the minors that made me successful, doing stuff that I know that worked for me, that worked for me my whole life. Then it\u2019s talking to hitting coaches, getting to understand the philosophy here, and growing that relationship with them, and going from there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Marcelo Mayer still has plenty of baseball ahead of him this season. The 23-year-old infielder,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":808763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[374,363,2329,99],"class_list":["post-808762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-mlb","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}