As we inch closer and closer to Opening Day, the Red Sox positions seem all but solidified. If the stars align properly, Rafael Devers will be the designated hitter and Alex Bregman will play third base, and Trevor Story and Triston Casas have their rightful places. While the team waits and sees how well Wilyer Abreu develops as we inch closer, all eyes are the second base position. Prized rookie Kristian Campbell should very much be the Opening Day starter at the position.

Kristian Campbell Deserves the Nod

The Red Sox are high on Campbell and deservedly so. He has made quite the climb and in very quick order. Campbell brings all the tools that the Red Sox would love in this lineup. He brings tremendous power in his bat and is extremely athletic.

When it comes to the position battle, he is competing with Vaughn Grissom and David Hamilton. Hamilton was the teams’ best defensive second baseman last season and should at least make the Opening Day roster. Hamilton is versatile and brings enormous speed on the base paths and is a weapon. One thing that the Red Sox need the most is another right handed bat and would welcome his into the lineup.

Campbell’s Bat Plays Well

Everyone talks about how Bregman will continue to put dents into the Green Monster, but the same could be said for Campbell. This is a player that slugged above .500 in both Single-A and Double-A and in the short sample size slugged .486 in Triple-A. He hit four home runs in Triple-A, which was only 19 games and was halfway to his totals that he had in Double-A, which was eight. The amount of potential that is in this young man and to the moon and you can see why this team wants his bat in the lineup.

Now, don’t be alarmed by his spring training statistics. Campbell had only 19 games of Triple-A, so this was his first true test against big league pitching. Campbell is hitting .167, and has drove in five runs. Also, he has a .286 on base percentage and is generating his walks. While things did look shaky at first, Campbell has adjusted his approach and has had better at bats.

His home run in the spring breakout game was phenomenal work. Also, manager Alex Cora took notice to what he’s been working on and how he’s improved.

“As long as we swing on the right ones, that’s the most important thing,” Cora said. “That’s kind of like what he does. Yeah, he hits the ball hard and all that. But he dominates the strike zone. And at one point there, he was just swinging. And we want him to make sure he’s still making good swing decisions. And when you do that over and over and over again, the results are going to come.”

There was a point where Campbell was swinging the bat too much and chasing the wrong pitches. He struck out 15 times, but he’s improved enormously as of late at the plate.

The biggest factor to him is going to be his defense.

Campbell Showing Promise Defensively

When you’ve looked at the Spring Training lineup construction, Campbell has primarily been playing in left field. Of course there is getting looks for other players for the position, but it also comes with his versatility. This is a player who has played the outfield, third base, but also second base. With the vacant hole, he is the perfect player to fill the void. However, to evaluate his defense, the ball has to be put his way and for the majority of spring training when he’s been slotted at second base, the ball has yet to find him. Until against the Orioles on St. Patrick’s Day.

Kristian Campbell had a couple of tough errors last week, but he was making plays left and right against the Orioles this afternoon.

By far the best he’s looked at second base. pic.twitter.com/OkfTKI2S1p

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) March 17, 2025

In this clip, you can see the plays being made. The athleticism, the reaction time, and the ability to make the routine play. Making the routine play was virtually non-existent for the Red Sox last season, so getting any form defensive play like that from Campbell is enormous.

The biggest blessing for his development is he would have a great mentor in Trevor Story right next to him and also have a tremendous leader in Bregman.

After dangling the Big Three in our faces for the last year and change, the time has come for one of them to make their awaited debut at the MLB level. The fans would love nothing more than to see Campbell play second base.