“I think he was born to play baseball.”

Kristian Campbell taps his toe on the ground right before he swings his bat. It’s a subtle, quick tap, but it’s very hard to unsee it once you notice it. Campbell’s teammates at Georgia Tech caught onto his unique quirk. At some point, they started calling him “Toe Tap.”

Even associate head coach James Ramsey’s then 3-year-old son, Brogan, referred to his favorite player by that moniker. “I want to talk to ‘Toe Tap!” Brogan would implore his father during road trips. He wasn’t the only one. Everyone on the team loved Toe Tap.

But you probably know Campbell by a different nickname, a nickname he first heard when he walked into the Hadlock Field clubhouse once. “Barry!” Marcelo Mayer called out to him. “Barry!” some of Campbell’s other teammates continued to say in the days that followed. Not because they didn’t know his first name. His fellow Portland Sea Dogs were using Barry Bonds’s name to address Campbell, because that toe tap wasn’t just for show. It helped him hit baseballs like a superstar.

“I started hearing it over and over and over,” Campbell told Boston.com. “I started answering to it, and then they just kept calling me ‘Barry Bonds.’”

A superstar was exactly what Campbell was last year. He was a fourth-round compensation draft pick turned Top 10 MLB prospect in just one season. He earned a myriad of awards after recording a triple slash of .330/.439/.558 with 20 HR and 77 RBI in his first full season as a pro. At this time last season, Red Sox fans hoped that Campbell wouldn’t be a waste of the compensation pick they got after losing Xander Bogaerts. Now, they’re hoping he can be Boston’s next great star.

Such a rise is almost unthinkable. Just one year ago, almost no one imagined that the skinny redhead the Red Sox drafted that summer could be wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey by 2025. Even fewer would believe that this player would win MLB Pipeline’s Hitter of the Year and Baseball America’s Minor League Prospect of the Year awards in his first year.

Well, there were a few people who did. And those few knew from the moment Campbell was drafted that the Red Sox had something special.

“In some ways, I think he was born to play baseball,” Ramsey said.

…

A ball usually leaves a high schooler’s bat with a confident thump. It can be heard throughout Walton High School’s baseball field in Marietta, Georgia, but it doesn’t carry a lasting effect beyond a faint echo. Campbell’s high school swing had a different sound. The second his bat made contact with a ball, a very crisp BOOM seized the attention of everyone around him. It turned heads. It rang through ears. In a different setting, you would wonder if a bomb exploded.

Shane Amos doesn’t hear that sound often. He only hears it from the best hitters in the world. Aaron Judge makes that sound. Shohei Ohtani makes it too. His junior shortstop who had just transferred to Walton, apparently, could make that sound as well.

“Everything that comes off his bat was absolutely a laser,” Amos said. “Every time he hit one, it was on a roll.”

Campbell may have had an elite bat, but how did he fare as a fielder? Amos would find that out after the first or second day his shortstop took ground balls. Campbell covered the six hole like a free safety roaming the gridiron. He threw balls to first base with the force of a military cannon. No matter where in the infield an opposing ball landed, there was always a chance that Campbell would grab it.

Through all of his catches, dives and swings, Campbell proved he had a talent that Amos has rarely seen in almost 40 years of coaching high school varsity baseball.

“Kristian was one of those players that is one of a kind,” Amos said. “He was a really good infielder, had great range, and can really hit the baseball.”

Amos knew Campbell was different before he ever saw him swing a bat. When Amos first met his junior transfer, he struggled to believe he was a junior. The way Campbell spoke about the game seemed more reminiscent of a baseball veteran than a 16-year-old kid.

But he had a youthful spirit that shined on the field. Campbell was usually the type to keep his head down, lips somewhat sealed, and let his actions do his talking. With every action, Campbell radiated a burning effervescence that could light the souls of his teammates. They hustled the same way he hustled. They rejoiced whenever he made a great play. Some of his team’s best games may not have happened without power from Campbell’s energy.

“He had a smile on his face and just enjoyed what he did,” Amos said. “It just trickled down to everybody else.”

Campbell’s demeanor spoke so much while his mouth said little. At few points did that disposition do more talking than whenever he silently awaited a pitch. He possessed an innate ability to remain quiet and calm even in his loudest at-bats. The only noise that seemed to matter were the cheers of his family and teammates behind him. No other sounds could interfere with his ability to appear comfortable and composed while waiting for a chance to swing.

Ramsey witnessed this demeanor firsthand. Campbell’s joy for the game manifested itself whenever he took the field. That contagious smile hardly left his face. His spirit glistened through even the darkest spring evening skies. It’s rare to find those qualities in someone so young. It’s also rare to find those qualities in someone with the physical tools necessary to excel at baseball. That’s why the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Georgia Tech’s baseball team knew Campbell would be a great player — preferably for the Yellow Jackets.

“There’s guys that you think, ‘Man, I think this kid could be a good player, but there’s gonna be some limitations,’” Ramsey said. “With Kristian, it’s always been, ‘the sky’s the limit.’”

It looked as though Ramsey would get his wish. Georgia Tech’s incredible reputation for developing talent appealed to Campbell and his family, and the close proximity to his loved ones didn’t hurt. It was an ideal fit. Campbell took his smile and radiance from Marietta to Atlanta upon graduating from high school and enrolled at Georgia Tech.

Campbell brought his ebullience everywhere he went, including the batting cage. Actually, especially the batting cage. Extra swings or extra reps on the field catching ground balls never felt like a chore. He would stay longer, run harder and react quicker all with that signature smile of his, absorbing all criticisms from his coaches and working until those critiques no longer applied to him.

It’s just as they say at Georgia Tech, “Work wins.” Luckily for the Yellow Jackets, there weren’t many things Campbell loved doing more than working or winning.

“You’re going to be the one that has to kick him out of the [batting] cage,” Ramsey said.

That love could be best described as an obsession. “Good enough” was never good enough for Campbell. There was always an opportunity to become better, so he would strive to find that opportunity with every at-bat. Sometimes he found that opportunity. Other times, he did not.

Those other times were sometimes hard to deal with. He could be hard on himself. Most great players are. But over time, Campbell grew more confident in the type of player he was and wasn’t, and recognized that hard work afterward can remedy any defeat.

“Baseball’s a game of failure,” Campbell said. “You have a lot of highs and you have a lot of lows, but if you stay in the middle, you’ll be okay.”

Hard work characterizes Campbell’s two years at Georgia Tech. After he was redshirted for his freshman season, he went to play for the Duluth Huskies of the Northwoods League in the summer of 2022 to grow. Campbell mashed his way to a spot on the Northwoods League All-Star Team that summer and showed Georgia Tech coaches strength, maturity and a knack for hitting.

By that point, they knew he was ready to play the next season. He was. He played second base and a little bit of outfield for the Yellow Jackets while averaging .376/.484/.549 in his sophomore season, which ended with a call from the Red Sox at the 2023 MLB Draft.

This sudden and rapid growth may appear as déjà vu to Red Sox fans.

“It’s really no surprise that he’s getting these kinds of awards [with the Red Sox],” Amos said, “Just based on how hard he works and how dedicated he is to getting the job done.”

You’re likely familiar with the rest of Campbell’s story. You know that he made it to Triple-A Worcester in his first full season. You saw him rocket up the Red Sox’ prospect rankings and become one of the “Big Four.” You know that he’s a player that the Red Sox are thrilled to have.

Still, that rise came out of nowhere to a lot of people. Not to his previous coaches.

“I’m not shocked by the level of success he’s having,” Ramsey said. “He was given a lot of God-given ability, and with that ability, he’s done a lot with it.”

Campbell still makes time for the coaches who helped him grow. He calls and texts with a proud Amos and even FaceTimes Ramsey’s son from time to time. He’s continuing to grow while he awaits his opportunity to introduce himself to the fans at Fenway Park. And his former coaches are ready for Campbell to meet them.

“I’m excited for the whole Boston fan base to get to know him like a lot of us have,” Ramsey said. “They’re going to just love him as a human and also as a baseball player that’s going to help the Red Sox win a lot of baseball games.”