Kristian Campbell, Boston Red Sox
The 22-year-old was the 132nd overall draft pick in 2023, but Kristian Campbell has already burst onto the scene.
He quickly climbed the ranks in the Red Sox organization, earning himself the No. 7 spot on MLB’s top 100 prospects list. After a brutal spring training where he hit .167/.305/.271 with a .30.5% K%, Campbell is off to a scorching start in the regular season.
Through 28 plate appearances, Campbell is hitting .417/.500/.833 with a 0.8 BB/K ratio. Now, obviously, Campbell won’t finish the season with a .500 OBP. For reference, Orlando Arcia also had a .500 OBP through 26 plate appearances in 2024, and he the season finished at .271.
These result-reliant metrics are very unreliable with such small sample sizes. However, metrics such as bat speed, whiff rate, or chase rate are solely in control of the hitter and can tell us a lot about the true talent of a player, even through just 20 or so plate appearances.
Bat speed, much like a pitcher’s pitch velocity, becomes sticky after just a couple of swings. Campbell’s bat speed clocks in at 73.8 MPH, putting him in the 80th percentile (better than 80% of big leaguers) according to Baseball Savant.
Bat speed and exit velocities aren’t everything, but a player who can hit the ball extremely hard has a much higher ceiling than one who cannot. Not only does Campbell have elite exit velocity and power potential, but he also has elite plate discipline.
This is a skill Campbell has shown throughout his time in the minors and nothing has changed in the majors. He is walking 14.4% of the time and striking out in just 17.9% of his at-bats. Additionally, he only chases 24.2% of the time (league average is 28.5%). The hype surrounding Campbell is deserved, and the combination of elite power potential and elite plate discipline makes Campbell a must-watch player.