Red Sox
Roman Anthony has driven in nine runs in his first 12 games with Worcester.
The Red Sox received some bad news this week with top prospect Marcelo Mayer likely done for the season due to a nagging lumbar strain.
But even with Mayer unable to log any at-bats in Triple-A this season despite getting called up to Worcester earlier this month, Boston’s flourishing prospect pipeline still has several blue-chip players dominating at Polar Park in August.
Two of Mayer’s teammates with both Portland and now Worcester have quickly acclimated to Triple-A in Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell.
Anthony, who was called up together with Mayer and fellow top prospect Kyle Teel on Aug. 11, has continued to tee off against pitching at the highest level of the minor leagues.
The 20-year-old outfielder is currently slashing .320/.382/.560 through his first 12 games with the Woo Sox — slugging three home runs and driving in nine runs.
Campbell, who was promoted to Triple-A just a week after the “Big Three” earned their collective call-up, is making a legitimate case for a “Core Four” to be the new mantra in Worcester moving forward.
Boston’s breakout prospect has continued to torment opposing pitchers since arriving in Worcester. After batting .356 over 56 games with Double-A Portland earlier this summer, Campbell is slashing .348/.400/.652 over his first five games in Worcester with two home runs and nine RBI.
“We call him Barry Bonds just because of how good of a hitter he is,” Anthony said of Campbell before his call-up to Woecester. “He’s a great player. He’s a freak athlete.
“Plays the game the right way and he’s a great person on and off the field. And it’s rare that you can get a guy like that who can play so many different premium positions and play at the level that he plays at while putting up the numbers that he has put up.”
Even though it seems unlikely that any of Boston’s top prospects will make their big-league debuts in 2024, the future is bright for the Red Sox moving forward.
“As you go up, there’s more expectations, more cameras, as we can see right now, but nothing changes,” Anthony said after getting called up earlier this month. “We’re just gonna go out there and have fun and continue to play the game the right way, and everything else will take care of itself.”
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