Marcelo Mayer Says He Lost His Car Keys, Had to Be Driven to Fenway for Red Sox Debut

The path to the major leagues is always an exciting journey, but Marcelo Mayer needed some help for the last step ahead of his Boston Red Sox debut on Saturday.

The highly regarded prospect told reporters he lost his keys and needed to be driven to Fenway Park ahead of Saturday's contest against the Baltimore Orioles.

"I lost them like three weeks ago, and I've never cared to look for them until when I needed to," he said. "Thankfully, somebody drove me."

Mayer is set to make that big league debut in the second game of Boston's doubleheader against Baltimore. He is hitting sixth in the lineup and will start at third base.

Boston shared video of the moment Mayer found out he was getting the call up to the majors:

The 22-year-old will surely see plenty of playing time in the immediate future for the American League East team, as the Red Sox also announced they placed Alex Bregman on the 10-day injured list because of a right quad strain.

Manager Alex Cora told reporters Bregman's injury is a "significant" one that will sideline the two-time All-Star for the foreseeable future. Cora pointed to Bregman's 2021 quad strain that kept him out for more than 50 games as something of a comparison point.

The manager also suggested Mayer will play across the infield and not just at third base.

Mayer is the No. 8 overall prospect and No. 2 prospect in Boston's system, per MLB.com's rankings, and expectations will be high right from his first at-bat. After all, he is slashing .271/.347/.471 with nine home runs and 43 RBI in 43 minor league games this season.

Replacing Bregman's production will be much easier said than done, though, as the team's marquee offseason addition wasted little time establishing himself in his first season away from the Houston Astros. 

The two-time World Series champion is slashing .299/.385/.553 with 11 home runs and 35 RBI in 51 games this season.

The Red Sox are 4.5 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East race and will need Mayer to produce at a high level to remain competitive in the division. Ideally for the team, he will find his hitting stroke much quicker than he found his keys.