Sox Talk with Will Middlebrooks is a recurring content series on NESN.com. Middlebrooks, a former Red Sox player, and current NESN analyst gives his insight and opinion on pertinent Red Sox storylines throughout the season. You can read the latest stories from the series here.
Vaughn Grissom looked like the Boston Red Sox second baseman of the present and future when they acquired him from the Atlanta Braves last offseason.
But Kristian Campbell has different ideas.
Campbell went on a meteoric rise through Boston’s farm system this past season and was named Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year. He started the 2024 campaign with High-A Greenville before progressing all the way to Triple-A Worcester, getting on the cusp of breaking through to the major leagues.
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That very well might happen next season for Campbell. Many want to watch the 22-year-old push Grissom, who had a down debut season with the Red Sox, for the starting job at second base and see who comes out on top in the position battle.
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“I’m not ready to give up on Vaughn Grissom, but I’m all for a healthy competition to see who wants it,” former Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks told NESN.com.
Campbell certainly has plenty of momentum at his back after hitting .330 with a .997 OPS to go along with 20 home runs, 77 RBIs and 24 stolen bases across three minor league levels this past season.
The Georgia Tech product is now viewed as the 10th-best prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline and was named Boston’s Minor League Player of the Year as well.
Middlebrooks, much like everyone else, is highly impressed by Campbell’s ability in the batter’s box. But Campbell’s sheer size at 6-foot-3 and 191 pounds, which Middlebrooks caught a glimpse of when the Red Sox honored the youngster for his organizational accolade during the final series of the season, made him seem beyond his years, too.
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“He’s a beast,” Middlebrooks said. “… I walked past him and his family at Hotel Commonwealth, my God. This guy’s built like an NFL receiver.”
Grissom is just a year older than Campbell but already played parts of three MLB seasons. Hamstring injuries derailed his first year with the Red Sox and then the franchise decided to keep him at Triple-A for an extended stay to work on some things once he recovered.
Grissom ended up playing in just 31 games for the Red Sox, in which he batted .190 with no home runs and six RBIs. But the potential is still there — he showed it during his first season with the Braves when he hit .291 with five homers and 18 RBIs in 41 games — to be a solid contributor for a big league team.
He’ll have to put that on display, though, with Campbell, who also has experience at third base and center field, nipping at his heels. And even with the two battling it out at spring training, it might to difficult to get a completely accurate assessment of who might hold the upper hand at a key position in the infield.
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“Competition in spring training is tough, too, because guys are coming off the offseason, they’re trying to work on things,” Middlebrooks said. “So spring training is not always a great indicator of what you’re going to get in-season when guys are trying to win a job, but they’re also trying to work on their craft. So some games you’re like, ‘What is this guy doing? Why is he not swinging? Why is he only swinging at this?’ You’re like, ‘He’s working on something.’
“But that’s tough when you go into camp, and I’ve been in that spot, where you go in and you’re trying to win a job, so working on things is kind of out of the question.”
