Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer will debut eventually. Kristian Campbell has advice for them

It’s been roughly six weeks since Kristian Campbell made his big-league debut for the Boston Red Sox in Texas at the end of March, and he’s made the transition to the majors just about as seamlessly as possible.

The 22-year-old Campbell won American League Rookie of the Month for March/April, hitting .301 with a .902 OPS, along with four homers and eight doubles.

“I’m definitely happy and pleased with how it’s going so far,” he said. “And I’m surprised too, because I didn’t know. I’m just learning the game at another level. It’s just very interesting and always keeps me thinking. Every day I feel like I learn something new, whether it’s about somebody on the other team or just the team in general.”

A combination of Campbell excelling and the Red Sox lineup struggling convinced manager Alex Cora to move Campbell into the cleanup spot during the last homestand after he’d missed a few games with right rib discomfort. In the four-hole, Campbell has faced his first bit of adversity, going 3-for-26 with seven strikeouts through his first six games. After a day off Sunday, Campbell was back at cleanup Monday in Detroit as the Red Sox lost in a 14-2 blowout. Campbell went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

Even with a small hiccup, Campbell’s success thus far is a blueprint the Red Sox would undoubtedly love to see replicated by fellow top prospects outfielder Roman Anthony and infielder Marcelo Mayer when they debut in the not-too-distant future. When their debuts might come remains one of the biggest questions hovering over the team, but Campbell’s emergence as an everyday player for the Red Sox has been among the best early-season storylines.

Both Anthony and Mayer have gotten off to fast starts for Triple-A Worcester, which has only increased the calls for them to make the leap to the big leagues. Through 35 games, Anthony, who turned 21 on Tuesday, is hitting .302 with an .899 OPS, five homers and five doubles along with 28 walks and 33 strikeouts. The 22-year-old Mayer is hitting .269 with an .811 OPS, seven homers and five doubles along with 13 walks and 29 strikeouts in 34 games, but over the past month, he’s hit .303 with a .929 OPS.

Though there’s an opening in Boston at first base with Triston Casas out for the year, the Red Sox have said they don’t plan to transition either Mayer or Anthony to first base.

“It doesn’t seem like that’s in the plans right now,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said after Casas’ injury. “I think both of those guys, obviously, are showing the ability to impact both sides of the ball (offensively and defensively). But given the bright futures that they have ahead of them at their respective positions, introducing additional variables doesn’t make a ton of sense right now.”

Breslow has also said he doesn’t plan to promote either player if they are not going to be in the lineup regularly, as Campbell has been.

Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer will debut eventually. Kristian Campbell has advice for them

Coming into the season, all three Red Sox prospects ranked among the top 30 in baseball. (WooSox Photo/ Ashley Green / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

Like everyone else outside the Red Sox front office, Campbell does not know when Anthony or Mayer will debut, but he’s been taking notes over the first several weeks of his big-league career to pass on to the pair whenever they do arrive.

“When I got here, everyone told me to be myself and do what I did in the minor leagues and I’ll be fine,” Campbell said. “That’s made me successful so far, I just try not to make it bigger than it is, even though it is a big step into Major League Baseball. So I would tell (Anthony and Mayer) to be the same as they are, don’t try to do too much, but take it in at the same time because you debut one time and it is definitely going to be different. It hits people differently in different ways.”

Campbell is in a unique position having played in both the infield (31 games) and outfield (five games) to offer insight to each player.

“Speed of the game is a little bit faster,” Campbell noted. “I would tell Marcelo, specifically, for the infield, know who’s up to bat and know who’s running. Make sure your internal clock is good, knowing how fast guys are helps because I learned that early. Some plays are dead when there’s no play, there’s no play. There’s not too much you can do when that happens.”

Anthony has played 12 games in left, eight games in center and four in right for Worcester. Campbell said the biggest thing he’d advise Anthony (or any outfielder) about playing out there in the majors, and especially at Fenway Park, is continuing to learn the wall, whether Anthony is in left field or center.

Like in the majors, outfielders in Triple A use defensive placement cards to help them be in the best position to track down the ball.

“Just being on your card and knowing exactly where you’re supposed to be, whoever’s up at bat just being very specific, and being in the right spot at all times,” Campbell said. “In the minor leagues, you have to be in the right spot, but you’re held to a higher standard here in the major leagues.”

Campbell has done a nice job of adjusting to big-league pitching. He hasn’t gone more than two games without getting a hit through his first 35 games. He said playing every day in spring training, like both Anthony and Mayer did, helped him see advanced pitching more frequently, giving him a better idea of what to expect.

“It’s easy to talk about it, but until you face it and go through it, it’s different,” Campbell said, noting that velocity, pitch usage, shape and overall game-planning are more advanced than in the minors. “And once you get used to it, you adjust.”

The Red Sox have made a point in recent years of running their pregame hitters’ meetings the same way from their lower-level affiliates all the way through the majors. In the meetings, players and coaches sit down to discuss scouting reports for the starter and any relievers they may be facing that day, what the pitchers throw, in which counts, how often, etc.

Campbell said that continuity has helped him immensely in preparing to face new pitchers on a near-daily basis. He still does some studying on his own to prepare.

“Usually when I get to the park, depending on who it is and how different it is compared to some of the other people I’ve seen,” he said.

Campbell has been lauded for being able to make quick adjustments and credits that to having a good memory. He doesn’t need to be told too often how to fix something for him to make the change.

“I’m learning as I play — once you see it and learn it, you remember it,” he said.

While the Red Sox have only been on the road at eight different ballparks so far, Campbell has clocked the nuances of each in his memory bank.

“The first time you go to Texas, it’s bouncy, now I know that,” he said. “Like let’s say if Roman or Marcelo debuted in Texas, that’s the first thing I’d tell them, as soon as you hit a groundball, you get these high hops. Roman, I’d tell him not to run up too close to the ball so it doesn’t bounce over his head. Little things like that I can share. In Toronto, it’s turf also, but the infield does not bounce as much, but the outfield does.”

Campbell’s emergence as a top prospect last season came so quickly that he didn’t have much time to feel the pressure to perform. Conversely, he thinks because Anthony and Mayer have dealt with the spotlight for so long as hyped prospects, they’re accustomed to it and won’t have much of a problem with the scrutiny in Boston.

“I feel like they know how to handle it,” he said. “I mean this is the biggest stage, but they’ve had it their whole life really. I just became a prospect when I got here; before, I wasn’t really a prospect coming up when I was younger. So, I think they’ll be just fine with the pressure. And I don’t think it really is pressure. I think it’s more of just learning and feeling confident.”

(Top photo of Kristian Campbell, Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer from spring training: Danielle Parhizkaran / The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Jen McCaffrey is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Boston Red Sox. Prior to joining The Athletic, the Syracuse graduate spent four years as a Red Sox reporter for MassLive.com and three years as a sports reporter for the Cape Cod Times. Follow Jen on Twitter @jcmccaffrey

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