WORCESTER — The Big 3 just got bigger.
On Tuesday, the Boston Red Sox transferred Kristian Campbell from Double-A Portland to Triple-A Worcester.
The 22-year-old infielder/outfielder — who is the Red Sox’ No. 5 ranked prospect according to MLB.com — will join Boston’s “Big 3” in Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony and Kyle Teel with Worcester as the Triple-A club begins a six-game series in Norfolk, Virginia.
Introducing: The Big 4. Coming to a ballpark near you.
“We call him Barry Bonds just because of how good of a hitter he is,” said Anthony, the Red Sox top outfield prospect, about Campbell during a press conference at Polar Park last week. “He’s a great player. He’s a freak athlete. (He) plays the game the right way and he’s a great person on and off the field. And it’s rare that you get a guy like that who can play so many different premium positions and play it at the level that he plays it at while putting up the numbers that he’s put up.
“Credit to him.”
Campbell joins the WooSox exactly one week after Mayer (No. 1 prospect), Anthony (No. 2) and Teel (No. 3) received promotions to Triple A from Portland. Nestled just inside of Campbell in the prospect rankings is outfielder Braden Montgomery (No. 4), who Boston selected in the first round of this year’s MLB Draft.
In his first full season in professional baseball, Campbell hit a combined .339 in 96 games (40 with A+ Greenville and 56 with AA Portland). The right-handed hitter has 30 doubles, 16 home runs, 60 RBIs, 20 stolen bases and an OPS of 1.016 across both levels. Overall, the Tennessee native has played in 34 games at second base, 23 in center field, 22 at shortstop, two at third base and 16 as designated hitter.
Since his promotion to Portland on June 4, Campbell batted .362 with eight homers and 35 RBIs. From July 2 to August 11, the righty hitter — with an unorthodox swing — had a 26-game on-base streak, which is the longest in the Eastern League this season.
Campbell was named the Eastern League Player of the Week (Aug. 5-11) for a second time this year.
“I’m just like a fan watching him play,” said Mayer, Boston’s top shortstop prospect, about Campbell last week. “He’s just such a unique player and he’s so athletic and he’s able to do everything at such a high level that it’s just like, it’s super impressive to watch.”
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Campbell was selected by Boston in the fourth round (132nd overall) of the 2023 First-Year Player Draft. The 6-foot-3, 191-pounder from Georgia Tech played in 22 games in the Red Sox system in 2023 (Florida Complex Red Sox and Greenville) and batted a combined .309.
Kristian Campbell has had a scorching season, collecting hits in nearly every game at the Double-A level. Spoke with him about his versatility and consistency along with what makes this talented squad so special pic.twitter.com/9uM6ligqTB
— Rylee Pay (@ryleepay21) August 3, 2024
“He grinded all offseason,” Anthony said. “He was there every day in Florida when we were there every day at spring training. He’s constantly grinding. He gets in early every day, so it’s not by accident, but we’re hoping to see him here soon because he’s tight.”
And soon turned into Tuesday. Campbell is penciled in to hit third and play shortstop for the WooSox in their game against the Norfolk Tides.
Kristian Campbell is the latest Red Sox prospect to earn a call up to Triple-A Worcester.
—Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Sox prospect Kristian Campbell earns promotion to Triple-A Worcester