Red Sox Opening Day Secret Revealed?

Most Major League players will tell you that spring training numbers don’t really mean that much. 

But spring training lineups can say quite a bit. 

The Boston Red Sox had split squad games on Monday against the Baltimore Orioles and the Atlanta Braves. The starting 9 that faced the Orioles looked an awful lot like what most project the Red Sox to have facing the Texas Rangers March 27 on opening day. 

Which made the inclusion of Kristian Campbell at second base all the more noticeable. 

“Red Sox badly want Kristian Campbell to be on the OD roster,” Boston sports radio personality Tyler Milliken posted on X (formerly Twitter). 

Katie Manganelli of BoSox Injection, the Red Sox-focused news site powered by FanSided, agreed with that assessment, stating, “(t)he Boston Red Sox may be playing their Opening Day lineup.” 

“On March 16, Ian Browne of MLB.com posted a quote from Alex Cora about Boston’s top prospects’ chances of making the Opening Day roster,” Manganelli continued to write. “The manager stated that Campbell, Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer will begin the season where they’ll have an everyday role in the lineup. Since Campbell is slotted in at second base alongside the likely big league squad, there seems to be a good chance he’ll land on the Opening Day roster.” 

Kristian Campbell, David Hamilton Take Second Base Battle to End of Spring

The debate over who should start at second base for Boston has been going on since spring training began. The other candidates for the role, David Hamilton and Vaughn Grissom, were in the lineup against Atlanta at shortstop and second base, respectively. 

As of March 16, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said that no decision had been made as to who will be named the starter. 

“This last week is going to dictate what we do,” Cora said. 

Cora stressed that offensive production in the spring “doesn’t come into the equation,” but there hasn’t been much offensively to bolster the case for any of the players. Hamilton has hit the best of the three, with a slash line of .238/.360.812, compared to Campbell (.167/.286/.508) and Grissom (.176/.300/.535). 

“Yeah it’s a competition and we know that but at the same time the structure of the roster is important,” Cora said. “One thing for sure, (Hamilton) has played well, really well. At short, at second, the at bats are really good and we know what he can do on the base paths.” 

Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic noted how much Cora, while insisting that the competition is still open, has praised the play of Hamilton, leading her to surmise that, “it seems like David Hamilton has a strong case for the starting job.” 

Boston’s No. 2 Prospect Kristian Campbell Seen as Long-Term Option at Second Base

Campbell, the No. 2 prospect in the Red Sox system, certainly profiles as the long-term answer at second base. In his MLB season preview for ESPN, Jeff Passan picked Campbell as the late-round pickup for fantasy players to win their league. 

“Campbell has not captured the second-base job, hitting .167/.286/.200 in 35 plate appearances, but Boston could break camp with him anyway, and if he’s going to play, he’s going to hit,” Passan stated.