The Boston Red Sox made some veteran additions this past winter but it might be a rookie on the team who is generating the most excitement.
After adding Garrett Crochet, Walker Buehler, Alex Bregman and others before opening day, the Red Sox promoted Kristian Campbell to serve as their everyday second baseman, with some starts in center field, too.
The 23-year-old has rewarded the team with a solid .256/.346/.406 slash line, four homers and a .975 fielding percentage so far. And Red Sox fans are clammoring for the team to recreate that success by calling up another one of their top-ranked prospects.
“Campbell’s success thus far is a blueprint the Red Sox would undoubtedly love to see replicated by fellow top prospects outfielder Roman Anthony and infielder Marcelo Mayer when they debut in the not-too-distant future,” Jen McCaffrey wrote for The Athletic. “Like everyone else outside the Red Sox front office, Campbell does not know when Anthony and Mayer will debut, but he’s been taking notes over the first several weeks of his big-league career to pass on to the pair when they do arrive.”
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Anthony is ranked as the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball while Mayer is at No. 8, per MLB.com. Their paths to the big-league club are a bit cloudy, despite their talents, because of the positions they play.
As an outfielder, Anthony faces a logjam for everyday playing time as Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreau and Rob Refsnyder split time, with Masataka Yoshida hoping to return soon from an injury. And at a shortstop, Mayer would have to compete with highly paid veteran Trevor Story for playing time.
Mayer also faces a unique challenge at his position because shortstop can be one of the most challenging roles to play at the big-league level. With that in mind, Campbell sent him a warning.
“I would tell Marcelo, specifically, for the infield, know who’s up to bat and know who’s running,” Campbell told McCaffrey. “Some plays are dead when there’s no play, there’s no play. There’s not too much you can do when that happens.”
Campbell could surely give the pair of prospects plenty of invaluable lessons when they receive their call-ups, given how quickly he’s acclimated to the majors. As Anthony and Mayer continue to knock at the door, the trio might be together again sooner rather than later.
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