'I feel very comfortable at any position on the field'; Kristian Campbell embracing position versatility in Red Sox system
It might be hard to find a hotter hitter in minor league baseball than Kristian Campbell.
After crushing High-A pitching and putting up a .976 OPS over 40 games in Greenville, Campbell was promoted to Double-A Portland on June 4th. Campbell then goes on to win Eastern League Player of the Month for June after crushing it in Double-A and enters Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospect list in July. He also did this all before turning 22, which he celebrated his 22nd birthday on June 28th.
Do you think Campbell is having as much fun as everyone else watching him is?
“It has been super fun so far.” Campbell said of his 2024 season. “That is mainly because of the two teams I have been on with the guys I have been around. That has been the most fun being around the guys every single day. It makes it much easier to play every day with the guys at each level in this organization.”
While Campbell notes that he “hasn’t really thought about it” in regard to just how good he has been this year, he always finds out from his teammates and coaching staff about the rankings or Player of the Month awards that have come his way.
Campbell is obviously not alone in that Sea Dogs lineup, as he has multiple top 10 prospects in the system batting around him in the lineup right now.
“It is really cool to play with my teammates here.” Campbell said. “I have known of Marcelo and Blaze since I was 16. I never got to play against Marcelo because he is a California kid, and I am a Georgia kid. I did get to see Blaze back then, being from the same part of the country but he definitely didn’t know who I was. It is crazy to be on the same field as them and get to compete with them. They are all competitors and that is what makes it really fun. We are trying to win all of the games we play and none of those guys make any excuses. They are just here to ball and take it one day at a time and focus in on what is right in front of them.”
Anybody could look at the box score every night or at his season stats for the year and see how impressive Campbell has been with the bat. A question that does happen to come up with most of the top prospects is, how is their defense? We have seen Campbell rover around at a few positions since being drafted by the Red Sox.
What does he like the most about his defensive side of his game?
“It has to be my versatility.” Campbell said of what he is most proud of defensively. “I feel very comfortable at every position on the field. I haven’t really played first base or pitcher or catcher. I can’t really pitch or catch because I haven’t done that before. Everywhere else on the field, I feel comfortable where I suit up if I can get some work in. My main spots are everything up the middle of the field and I feel very comfortable roving around to each position wherever the team needs me that day. I just want to be a sound defender wherever the team needs me.”
After the promotion to Double-A and winning the Player of the Month in June, Campbell has already had a very successful season. The fresh 22-year-old still has an entire second half of the season to try to duplicate his first half.
What does he hope is in store for the rest of the season?
“I really leave it up to guys in the player development department to see where they want me to go.” Campbell said of the next few months. “It has been a very big part of this year working alongside them. The communication has been great with Brian Abraham and his staff. They let me know what they want to see out of me and what to look forward to. I have been really happy working with them. I try to focus on one game at a time and just play my hardest each game. I want to give it all I had so I can look back and know that I did what I could do every single day. I don’t really try to get caught up in where I want to be or where I should be or where I think I should be. Just be where your feet are is what mindset you need to have in this game. There is a lot of baseball going on in levels above me and below me in the system. If you start thinking about that stuff, you might get frustrated with where you are. I just try to take things one day at a time.”
