ARLINGTON -- The connection Kristian Campbell made for his first Major League homer on Saturday night at Globe Life Field was obvious both due to the loud crack of the bat and how joyous MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 7 prospect became as he rounded the bases.
At 22 years old, less than two years from being drafted by the Red Sox out of Georgia Tech and just days after he made the club at the end of Spring Training, Campbell is making a sudden impact.
To start the top of the fourth inning of Boston's 4-3 loss to Texas, Campbell jumped on a 1-0 fastball by Jacob Webb and smoked it off the back wall of the visiting bullpen in center field to tie the game at 2-2.
Campbell pumped his fist with excitement and hollered, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±
After the game, Campbell acknowledged the possibility of signing an extension with the Red Sox, something that has become more commonplace in recent years with top prospects with little to no big league service time.
¡°I just leave that to my agents and let them talk back and forth and work out what is going to be done, and we'll listen, for sure,¡± said Campbell.
MassLive¡¯s Chris Cotillo reported on Saturday night that Campbell and the Red Sox are ¡°working to finalize a long-term extension.¡±
The Red Sox had no comment on the reported contract talks.
¡°They¡¯re talking back and forth,¡± said Campbell, ¡°I know that for a fact. I'm not sure how close or not close it is, but we¡¯ve got some communications on that for sure.¡±
The first member of Boston¡¯s vaunted ¡°Big 3¡± prospects to make it to the show, Campbell (No. 2) looks primed to make the most of his opportunity.
After making all the plays at second base in his first two games, Campbell moved to left field on Saturday and nearly made a sensational catch in the gap in left-center, only to have it tick off his glove. Per Statcast, the play had a 15 percent catch probability.
¡°He almost made one of the best catches we have seen,¡± said Red Sox manager Alex Cora.
Campbell pounded his glove to the ground in disappointment on the two-run double by Adolis Garc¨ªa in the bottom of the first inning.
¡°Very disappointing, especially for me,¡± Campbell said. ¡°I was definitely frustrated when it first got into my glove, but hit the ground [after]. Gave my best effort for it and tried to make a play on it. But it didn¡¯t stick.¡±
There are sure to be many web gems in Campbell¡¯s future.
Walker Buehler, making his Red Sox debut, preemptively raised his arms in triumph from the mound, thinking Campbell made the play.
¡°I threw my hands up, I thought he caught it,¡± said Buehler. ¡°For a guy who¡¯s played second base the last two days and moved to left tonight, he almost made an unbelievable play. Then he hit his first homer and said, ¡®I had to get that one back.¡¯ Obviously the heartbeat and the brain of him being here right now [is helping us]. I think he¡¯s doing well.¡±
Boston being the rabid sports town that it is, perhaps it wasn¡¯t surprising that Campbell¡¯s MLB readiness was questioned on the talk-show circuit as recently as last week due to his unimpressive stat line (.167/.305/.271) in Grapefruit League action.
Campbell has looked ready in the first three games that counted, going 5-for-10.
The homer was ripped at an exit velocity of 112.2 mph and traveled a Statcast-projected distance of 431 feet.
¡°He's feeling better and better,¡± said Cora. ¡°If you watch his highlight reels from last year, his homers are left-center and right-center on the fastball, and he pulls the soft stuff.¡±
One thing that¡¯s become clear since Spring Training is that Campbell isn¡¯t afraid to show emotion on the field. He took it up a level on the homer, in large part because his mother, father, sister, brother and girlfriend were in the stands.
¡°Yeah, 100 percent,¡± said Campbell. ¡°I was happy they got to see that. They haven¡¯t seen me hit a home run obviously since college. It¡¯s been a minute. There were a lot of people in the stadium, and it was my first time hitting a home run in Major League Baseball. I just had a lot of energy.¡±
The Red Sox hope to be feeding off that energy for years to come.