On Wednesday, the Red Sox announced that they have agreed to terms with rookie infielder/outfielder Kristian Campbell on an eight-year contract extension that will keep him a member of the organization through the 2032 season.
Fans and media have deemed this extension a team-friendly deal for the Red Sox, with ESPN's Jeff Passan the first to have the numbers:
This news comes after only five starts in the big leagues, with a grand total of 16 career at bats.
But in those 16 plate appearances, Campbell has been among the few bright spots for Boston as the team has dropped four straight games after beating Texas 5-2 on Opening Day.
- .375 batting average
- 6 hits, 2 doubles, 1 home run
- 4 runs scored, 2 runs batted in
- .500 OBP
- .688 SLG
- 1.188 OPS
While he hasn’t been perfect at second base, Campbell’s positional versatility is an added bonus to what the 22-year-old has shown to be capable of at the plate in an extremely small sample size. He’s played four games at second and one in left, making him that much more valuable to the big league club moving forward.
Here’s what the Red Sox had to say about Campbell in a press release from Wednesday afternoon:
“Selected by Boston in the fourth round of the 2023 First Year Player Draft out of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Campbell is ranked among the game’s top 10 overall prospects by Baseball America (No. 4) and MLB.com (No. 6). In 2024, his first full minor league season, the Tennessee native batted .330 (142-for-430) with 32 doubles, three triples, 20 home runs, 94 runs scored, and 77 RBI in 115 games with High-A Greenville (40 games), Double-A Portland (56 games), and Triple-A Worcester (19 games). He was named in 2024 as Minor League Baseball’s Hitting Prospect of the Year and Breakout Player of the Year, Red Sox Minor League Offensive Player of the Year, BA’s Minor League Player of the Year, and Double-A Eastern League Most Valuable Player.”
The news of Campbell’s extension comes less than two days after news broke that the Red Sox had agreed to terms on a six-year extension with 25-year-old starting pitcher Garrett Crochet, which would keep him in Boston through the 2031 season.
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