The beginning of the season has been a whirlwind for Kristian Campbell. The No. 4 player on Baseball America’s top prospect list entering the year, Campbell was coming off a red-hot campaign where he rocketed through three different levels of the organization. But a slow Spring Training had many wondering if he was ready for the major leagues.
After recovering to win the starting job, Campbell is one of the Red Sox’ hottest hitters and earned an eight-year, $60 million contract earlier this week. But it’s also easy to wonder what happened that led to his turnaround.
It turns out a veteran had a key role in Campbell’s success and it could help validate a Red Sox organization that has big expectations for the rookie moving forward.
Trevor Story Played Key Role in Kristian Campbell’s Hot Start for Red Sox
According to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, Campbell has credited his hot start to a conversation with Trevor Story during Spring Training. The dialogue began when Campbell asked Story about his first major league camp and Story replied with the simple advice to “be yourself.”
“I just reminded him to be yourself, that’s all he wanted to do,” Story said. “The conversation was mainly about just him going out there and letting it rip. Like if you need to go out there and waggle your bat, do it. You don’t need to try to be anyone else or try to fit into this team or do anything other than just be yourself.”
Being himself is a great approach for Campbell to take during his rookie season. A fourth-round pick out of Georgia Tech in the 2023 draft, Campbell exploded on the prospect radar by hitting .330/.439/.558 with 20 homers, 77 RBI and 24 stolen bases on 32 attempts between Advanced-A Greenville, Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester last season.
But while his first professional season was a success, his first big league camp was a struggle. Campbell went 0-for-12 with eight strikeouts in his first five Spring Training games and hit just .167/.305/.271 with a home run and two RBI in the 20-game Grapefruit League slate. With defensive concerns also looming, Campbell’s Opening Day roster spot was in jeopardy, which prompted him to talk to Story.
“I definitely put too much pressure on myself in the beginning,” Campbell said. “It was a combination of pressure and finding my rhythm. Trying to find it all together is tough sometimes, that’s what camp is for, he was saying, to get your rhythm and timing. I just asked him his experiences, if he ever had a tough camp before or like what he’s done in the past to get out of a tough break.”
Story didn’t have the same issues, hitting .321/.345/.571 with a home run in 15 games during his first big league camp with the Colorado Rockies in 2015. But after a full year in the minors, he thrived when he got the chance, hitting .272/.341/.567 with 27 home runs and 72 RBI in 97 games to finish fourth in the National League Rookie of the Year Award voting.
Campbell has had a similar arrival to the big leagues, hitting .417/.500/.833 with two home runs and four RBI over his first seven games. While there’s a long way to go, Red Sox fans would be thrilled if Campbell has a similar impact in his rookie season.