Red Sox
Campbell, 22, hit his first home run of spring training on Saturday.
Kristian Campbell seems poised to win the Red Sox’ starting second baseman job.
Boston appears ready to have him make his MLB debut on Opening Day against the Rangers in Texas next week, according to a report.
“The presumption around Red Sox camp is that he will be their second basemen [sic],” ESPN’s Buster Olney shared on X on Saturday.
Campbell, 22, has been competing with David Hamilton and Marcelo Mayer for second base this spring. Vaughn Grissom was also in the mix until he was optioned to Triple-A Worcester earlier this week.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said on Friday that the club “has a pretty good idea” of who will win the starting 2B job.
While reports indicate Campbell’s upcoming promotion to the big leagues, he hasn’t been informed if he will be on the Opening Day roster yet, MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reported after Saturday’s game.
Campbell is only batting .174 with a .587 OPS during spring training, but he’s seemed to emerge as Boston’s pick for the role in recent days. He hit his first home run of the spring on Saturday, finally showing off the power he displayed in the minor leagues last year.
Campbell, the No. 7 ranked prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, also made an impressive grab at second base on Saturday. He caught a line drive by diving to his left and held on to the ball as he crashed into the infield dirt.
Second base has statistically been Campbell’s primary position since being drafted by Boston in 2023 (51 games at 2B in MiLB). However, he’s also played plenty of shortstop (36) and center field (25) with some third base and left field sprinkled in.
Campbell has played spring training games in left field this year, but it’s clear that the Red Sox want him in the infield if he does make the Opening Day roster.
Boston’s infield coach Jose Flores spoke about Campbell’s growth at 2B and his chances of winning the starting job.
“Obviously we didn’t get a chance to work a lot at second base last year,” Flores said, via MassLive’s Christopher Smith. “This is the first time throughout spring training that we get to get some work done. But he’s come a long ways. He’s actually accepted the challenge of trying to get better at that position and hopefully, have a chance making the big league club.
“So I think he’s come a long ways, especially turning double plays, which is actually something that he wasn’t used to being on his blind side. I think he’s come a long ways and feels a hell of a lot more comfortable doing that.”
If Campbell is indeed with the big league club on March 27, it will cap off his year-long meteoric rise. He began last season at Single-A Greenville, where he spent less than three months before being promoted to Double-A Portland.
Before Campbell knew it, he made the leap to Triple-A Worcester, yet again less than three months later. He appeared in 19 games through the end of the club’s season.
Despite Campbell’s well-deserved rapid minor league ascension, spring training proved that there will be growing pains at the MLB level, even with a top-ranked prospect like himself.
Nevertheless, joining an infield that could feature Alex Bregman at third, Trevor Story at second, and Triston Casas at first should make for an exciting Red Sox baseball season.
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