The Red Sox did their due diligence at LSU this spring, as Mayers is the second LSU pitcher to be selected by the Red Sox. A Louisiana native, Mayers spent his first two college seasons at Nicholls State before transferring to LSU for his junior year. While he was a starter for Nicholls State, he transitioned to a full-time relief role for the Tigers where he projects to remain long-term. He appeared in 17 games out of the bullpen this year, striking out 36.1% of the batters he faced with a 4.80 ERA. He's the first primary reliever taken by the Red Sox this year.

Mayers nearly walked as many batters he struck out this year, so "fringy" doesn't do the lack of command any justice. However, he has really loud stuff which makes him a fun project in this system. His mid to upper-90s fastball that topped out at 102 mph this spring averaged 23 inches of induced vertical break. That's averaged, not topped out at. It's a true outlier fastball that can be special with the necessary polish. He threw it 73.4% of the time this year, rarely mixing in an upper-80s slider and a low-90s splitter. A lot of work to be done here, but he could be really interesting soon.