2024 SoxProspects.com Awards: Player of the Year
Welcome to the fifth and final day of 2024 SoxProspects.com Awards Week. Throughout the week, we have recognized All-Star pitchers and position players, the Graduate of the Year, the Homegrown Player of the Year, the Ex-Prospect of the Year, the Rookie of the Year, the Comeback Player of the Year, and the Breakout Player of the Year. Today, we start by naming the recipient of Player of the Year honors.
Player of the Year
For the second time in the last three seasons, our Breakout Player of the Year is also our overall Player of the Year. Kristian Campbell (pictured), the 132nd overall pick in the 2023 draft out of Georgia Tech, enjoyed quite the meteoric rise in his first full professional season.
Campbell entered the 2024 season ranked as the No. 22 prospect in the system after adding strength over the winter and drawing rave reviews in spring training. The 22-year-old broke camp with Greenville (where he ended 2023) and promptly batted .306/.418/.558 with 13 doubles, eight home runs, 25 RBIs, 29 runs scored, three stolen bases, 26 walks, and 47 strikeouts in 40 games (177 plate appearances). He was named the South Atlantic League Player of the Month for May and was promoted to Portland shortly thereafter.
With Portland, Campbell turned things up a notch offensively. The right-handed hitter slashed a stout .362/.463/.582 with 17 doubles, three triples, eight home runs, 35 RBIs, 48 runs scored, 17 stolen bases, 35 walks, and 38 strikeouts in 56 games (255 plate appearances). He was named the Eastern League Player of the Month once (June) and Eastern League Player of the Week twice (June 10-16, August 5-11) before being elevated to Worcester for the stretch run in late August.
In 19 games for Worcester, Campbell batted .286/.412/.486 with two doubles, four home runs, 17 RBIs, 17 runs scored, four stolen bases, 13 walks, and 18 strikeouts over 85 plate appearances. He suffered a left lat strain while running from home to first on September 11 and was shut down for the remainder of the season as a result.
Altogether, Campbell produced a .330/.439/.558 slash line with 32 doubles, three triples, 20 home runs, 77 RBIs, 94 runs scored, 24 stolen bases, 74 walks, and 103 strikeouts over 115 total games (517 plate appearances) between Greenville, Portland, and Worcester in 2024. Among the 185 minor-leaguers who made 500-plus trips to the plate this season, Campbell led in on-base percentage, OPS (.997), wOBA (.447), and wRC+ (180), per FanGraphs.
On the other side of the ball, Campbell saw playing time at four different positions between his three stops this season. The versatile 6-foot-3, 210-pounder made 35 starts at second base, 32 starts at shortstop, 25 starts in center field, and five starts at third base. To that end, he was named the organization's Defensive Player of the Month for July and Portland's Defensive Player of the Year.
In addition to those accolades, Campbell took home plenty of other hardware at season's end as well. The Georgia native was recognized as Eastern League MVP,, Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year, Red Sox Minor League Offensive Player of the Year, MiLB Hitting Prospect of the Year, and MiLB Breakout Player of the Year. He was also named an Eastern League All-Star, a Baseball America First-Team Minor League, All-Star, and a member of the All-MiLB Prospect First Team.
Campbell, who does not turn 23 until next June, is now regarded by Baseball America as the No. 3 prospect in the organization and the No. 24 prospect in the sport. He is joined by Roman Anthony (No. 1), Marcelo Mayer (No. 10), Kyle Teel (No. 25), Braden Montgomery (No. 59), and Franklin Arias (No. 91) on the publication's current top 100 prospects list.
Nicknamed 'Barry Bonds' by his teammates, Campbell has transformed Boston's Big Three (Anthony, Mayer, and Teel) into a Big Four. The talented quartet got to play together in Portland earlier in the season but not in Worcester since Mayer ended the year on the injured list after being promoted alongside Anthony and Teel. They nonetheless represent the upper echelon of one of the better farm systems in baseball.
Campbell, for his part, should get the chance to contribute at the major-league level as soon as Opening Day 2025 given his ability to play multiple positions and drive the ball from the right side of the plate. The Red Sox may decide it would be best to have him return to Worcester next spring before a potential call-up, but that likely depends on how the club navigates through the offseason ahead.
Photo Credit: Kristian Campbell by Kelly O'Connor