Mayer doubles twice in first career 4-hit day

Marcelo Mayer has been doing it all at the plate in the early goings of the 2022 season, and on Thursday, he reached a milestone – his first career four-hit game.

The fourth overall pick of the 2021 MLB Draft tallied a 4-for-5 day at the plate with two doubles, two runs scored and a stolen base in Single-A Salem’s 5-4 loss to Charleston. It was Mayer’s fifth multihit game this season and the first with multiple extra-base hits.

MLB's No. 14 prospect got things going right away in the bottom of the first when he laced a double to left field and came around to score the first run of the game two batters later. He added another two-bagger to left, his sixth of the year, a few innings later and again came around to score shortly thereafter.

Two doubles in a game is normally a solid effort, but Mayer’s night was far from over. The top Red Sox prospect singled to center on the first pitch he saw in the seventh then took off for second base for his third steal of the young season. A low throw from the catcher caused the ball to bounce into the outfield and Mayer raced to third.

He didn’t come around to score that time, but he added a single to right in the ninth, again putting the first pitch in play. All told, the shortstop sprayed his hits across all fields and showed why many scouts had him as the best hitter of last year’s Draft.

Mayer has collected at least one hit in eight of the 11 games he’s played, good for a .366/.447/.488 line with eight RBIs, eight runs scored and six walks. The California native had an up-and-down pro debut in the Florida Complex League last year, hitting .308 with a .919 OPS in 14 August games before fizzling out in September, hitting just .231 with a .677 OPS and one home run.