The Boston Red Sox have a chance to make the playoffs this season, but fans always have been keeping a close eye on what’s going on at Hadlock Field in Portland.
Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kyle Teel were dubbed the “Big Three,” not only for being the top three prospects in Boston’s farm system but also for being potential pillars for the future of the franchise. The trio got a taste of the big-league experience in their visits to Fenway Park and at development camp. And they were met with roaring cheers at Winter Weekend.
It’s a lot of pressure to put on players who are working their way through Double-A Portland, but they are not running away from the weight of expectations.
“I would say it’s pressure, yes. I would say it can be comfortable, and I would say that’s not a bad thing,” Teel told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier on NESN’s
“301 To Left” podcast. “I just believe that just because something’s uncomfortable doesn’t make it a bad thing. I think it’s a good kind of pressure. It’s not a bad thing at all. I love the quote, ‘No pressure, no diamonds.’ So that’s how I think of it.”
Teel, Mayer and Anthony lived up to the hype throughout the first half of the Sea Dogs season, and it’s a question of when not if one of them will be promoted to Triple-A Worcester this year. It’s a conversation they’ve had multiple times in Portland.
“We got a really special group of guys,” Teel said. “It’s fun to play with them. We have a great culture. We talk about Fenway and playing there all the time. We always talk about duck boats and how that’s a dream of ours. Just the conversation and how that can be a reality one day, just understanding it can be a reality, that’s what’s important. Just knowing every day that you go out, that’s the goal. That’s the end goal.”
Mayer noted that the conversation around duck boats means championships in Boston, and the trio is committed to helping the Red Sox win another World Series. While fans are enjoying what the major league club is doing this season, it’s also not hard to get excited about what the “Big Three” can do in the future.
