Top Red Sox prospect Kristian Campbell has been named Baseball America’s 2014 Minor League Player of the Year, the publication announced on Tuesday.
Campbell enjoyed a meteoric rise in his first full professional season after being selected by the Red Sox with the 132nd overall pick in the 2023 draft out of Georgia Tech. The 22-year-old was not ranked among Boston’s top 30 prospects by Baseball America to open the 2024 campaign and did not draw too much attention as a result.
After adding strength and overhauling his swing to better impact the baseball over the winter, Campbell broke camp with High-A Greenville this spring. The right-handed hitter batted .306/.418/.558 with 13 doubles, eight home runs, 25 RBIs, 29 runs scored, three stolen bases, 26 walks, and 47 strikeouts in 40 games (177 plate appearances) for the Drive. He was named the South Atlantic League Player of the Month for May and was promoted to Double-A Portland in early June.
In his next 56 games for the Sea Dogs, Campbell slashed a stout .362/.463/.582 with 17 doubles, three triples, eight home runs, 35 RBIs, 48 runs scored, 17 stolen bases, 35 walks, and 38 strikeouts over 255 plate appearances. He was named the Eastern League Player of the Week twice (June 10-16, August 5-11) and the Eastern League Player of the Month for June before receiving another promotion to Triple-A Worcester in late August.
With the WooSox, Campbell hit .286/.412/.486 to go along with two doubles, four home runs, 17 RBIs, 17 runs scored, four stolen bases, 13 walks, and 18 strikeouts over 19 games (85 plate appearances). He suffered a left lat strain while running from home to first base on September 11 and was subsequently shut down for the remainder of Worcester’s season.
All told, Campbell finished 2024 with a .330/.439/.558 line in 115 total games (517 plate appearances) between Greenville, Portland, and Worcester. He doubled 32 times, tripled thrice, homered 20 times, drove in 77 runs, scored 94 runs, stole 24 bases, drew 74 walks, and struck out 103 times. His 180 wRC+ was the top mark in the minors this year, per Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes.
On the other side of the ball, Campbell saw playing time at four different positions at all three of his stops this season. The versatile 6-foot-3, 210-pounder logged 310 1/3 cumulative innings at second base, 298 2/3 innings at shortstop, 204 innings in center field, and 44 innings at third base. To that end, he was named the Sea Dogs’ Defensive Player of the Year.
“He’s the kind of guy who bought into the programming, bought into what he felt like he needed to improve and what we provided for him in terms of training and focus,” Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham said of Campbell when speaking with Pontes. “He added about 15 to 20 pounds of muscle and strength. When we talk about impacting the baseball, that’s a big thing.”
Campbell, who was also named 2024 Eastern League MVP on Tuesday, is now regarded by Baseball America as the No. 3 prospect in Boston’s farm system and the No. 24 prospect in the sport. The Georgia native is joined by fellow Red Sox prospects Roman Anthony (No. 1), Marcelo Mayer (No. 10), Kyle Teel (No. 25), Braden Montgomery (No. 59), and Frankin Arias (No. 92) on Baseball America’s top 100 list.
“It just kind of all clicked at one time and happened this season pretty fast,” Campbell told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. “I think it caught me off guard and caught some other people off guard, but it’s been cool. It’s been happening fast but in a good way. I had a pretty good season, but it’s just a start. I’ve got to try to do it all again next year and the year after that.”
Campbell, who does not turn 23 until next June, has turned the Red Sox’ Big Three of Anthony, Mayer, and Teel into a Big Four. Unlike Anthony, Mayer, and Teel, though, Campbell hits from the right side of the plate. That distinction could help set him apart once he is deemed ready to contribute at the big-league level, which could come as soon as early 2025.
“It’s going to be interesting how we make it fit,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam) in Toronto on Tuesday. “But (his bat) plays. And like I said before, right-handed hitters at Fenway are needed to create balance and change games. And he’s going to change games.”
