{"id":7236,"date":"2024-11-14T08:26:27","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T08:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=7236"},"modified":"2024-11-14T08:26:27","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T08:26:27","slug":"unstoppable-kristian-campbells-rapid-rise-shocks-everyone-but-his-former-coaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=7236","title":{"rendered":"UNSTOPPABLE: Kristian Campbell\u2019s Rapid Rise Shocks Everyone but His Former Coaches"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cI think he was born to play baseball.\u201d<\/h2>\n
\"Kristian
Kristian Campbell. Steven Guersch \/ Greenville Drive<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/header>\n

Kristian Campbell taps his toe on the ground right before he swings his bat. It\u2019s a subtle, quick tap, but it\u2019s very hard to unsee it once you notice it. Campbell\u2019s teammates at Georgia Tech caught onto his unique quirk. At some point, they started calling him \u201cToe Tap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even associate head coach James Ramsey\u2019s then 3-year-old son, Brogan, referred to his favorite player by that moniker. \u201cI want to talk to \u2018Toe Tap!\u201d Brogan would implore his father during road trips. He wasn\u2019t the only one. Everyone on the team loved Toe Tap.<\/p>\n

But you probably know Campbell by a different nickname, a nickname he first heard when he walked into the Hadlock Field clubhouse once. \u201cBarry!\u201d Marcelo Mayer called out to him. \u201cBarry!\u201d some of Campbell\u2019s other teammates continued to say in the days that followed. Not because they didn\u2019t know his first name. His fellow Portland Sea Dogs were using Barry Bonds\u2019s name to address Campbell, because that toe tap wasn\u2019t just for show. It helped him hit baseballs like a superstar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started hearing it over and over and over,\u201d Campbell told Boston.com. \u201cI started answering to it, and then they just kept calling me \u2018Barry Bonds.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019t be a waste of the compensation pick they got after losing Xander Bogaerts. Now, they\u2019re hoping he can be Boston\u2019s next great star.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Hitter of the Year and Baseball America\u2019s Minor League Prospect of the Year awards in his first year.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn some ways, I think he was born to play baseball,\u201d Ramsey said.<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

A ball usually leaves a high schooler\u2019s bat with a confident thump. <\/em>It can be heard throughout Walton High School\u2019s baseball field in Marietta, Georgia, but it doesn\u2019t carry a lasting effect beyond a faint echo. Campbell\u2019s high school swing had a different sound. The second his bat made contact with a ball, a very crisp BOOM <\/em>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.<\/p>\n

Shane Amos doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything that comes off his bat was absolutely a laser,\u201d Amos said. \u201cEvery time he hit one, it was on a roll<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cKristian was one of those players that is one of a kind,\u201d Amos said. \u201cHe was a really good infielder, had great range, and can really hit the baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s best games may not have happened without power from Campbell\u2019s energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a smile on his face and just enjoyed what he did,\u201d Amos said. \u201cIt just trickled down to everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campbell\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Ramsey witnessed this demeanor firsthand. Campbell\u2019s 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\u2019s rare to find those qualities in someone so young. It\u2019s also rare to find those qualities in someone with the physical tools necessary to excel at baseball. That\u2019s why the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for Georgia Tech\u2019s baseball team knew Campbell would be a great player \u2014 preferably for the Yellow Jackets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s guys that you think, \u2018Man, I think this kid could be a good player, but there\u2019s gonna be some limitations,\u2019\u201d Ramsey said. \u201cWith Kristian, it\u2019s always been, \u2018the sky\u2019s the limit.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It looked as though Ramsey would get his wish. Georgia Tech\u2019s incredible reputation for developing talent appealed to Campbell and his family, and the close proximity to his loved ones didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Campbell brought his ebullience everywhere he went, including the batting cage. Actually, especially <\/em>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.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just as they say at Georgia Tech, \u201cWork wins.\u201d Luckily for the Yellow Jackets, there weren\u2019t many things Campbell loved doing more than working or winning.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to be the one that has to kick him out of the [batting] cage,\u201d Ramsey said.<\/p>\n

That love could be best described as an obsession. \u201cGood enough\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019t, and recognized that hard work afterward can remedy any defeat.<\/p>\n

\u201cBaseball\u2019s a game of failure,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cYou have a lot of highs and you have a lot of lows, but if you stay in the middle, you\u2019ll be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hard work characterizes Campbell\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

This sudden and rapid growth may appear as d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu to Red Sox fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really no surprise that he\u2019s getting these kinds of awards [with the Red Sox],\u201d Amos said, \u201cJust based on how hard he works and how dedicated he is to getting the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019re likely familiar with the rest of Campbell\u2019s story. You know that he made it to Triple-A Worcester in his first full season. You saw him rocket up the Red Sox\u2019 prospect rankings and become one of the \u201cBig Four.\u201d You know that he\u2019s a player that the Red Sox are thrilled to have.<\/p>\n

Still, that rise came out of nowhere to a lot of people. Not to his previous coaches.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not shocked by the level of success he\u2019s having,\u201d Ramsey said. \u201cHe was given a lot of God-given ability, and with that ability, he\u2019s done a lot with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campbell still makes time for the coaches who helped him grow. He calls and texts with a proud Amos and even FaceTimes Ramsey\u2019s son from time to time. He\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited for the whole Boston fan base to get to know him like a lot of us have,\u201d Ramsey said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to just love him as a human and also as a baseball player that\u2019s going to help the Red Sox win a lot of baseball games.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kristian Campbell made it to Triple-A Worcester in his first full season and shot up the prospect rankings to become one of the \u201cBig Four.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7241,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nUNSTOPPABLE: Kristian Campbell\u2019s Rapid Rise Shocks Everyone but His Former Coaches - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=7236\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UNSTOPPABLE: Kristian Campbell\u2019s Rapid Rise Shocks Everyone but His Former Coaches - 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