30. Marino Campana (Outfielder)
I won’t lie to you, 2019 was not kind to Marino Campana. The Red Sox had to be excited about him after 2018. The outfielder had a fantastic season and was just 21 entering the year.
However, Camana hit just .191 between Short-A, Full-A, and Advanced-A. The right-handed hitter had just seven doubles, two triples, and nine home runs. Meanwhile, he drove in 33 runs and scored 30 more, stealing five bases as well.
What’s so disappointing is this was coming off a year that saw him hit .246 with 19 doubles, seven triples, and 16 home runs. He had driven in 69 runs and scored 54 more. There was so much to be excited about.
I’m not giving up though. Campana was clearly not ready for Advanced-A ball to start the year. I’m sticking with that absolutely miserable start being the downfall of his season.
Campana’s still a very exciting prospect in my opinion. He’ll be 22 for the entire 2020 season. He’s also got an excellent frame. At 6’4″, 195 he can fill out a ton as well.
Campana isn’t anything special in the outfield, but he could play well in a corner spot. He has a solid arm as well and has definitely improved on his reads and glove work.
Campana also isn’t exactly fast, but he’s much faster than he gets credit for. It’s something that could lead to him racking up a decent amount of doubles (and even triples) in a season.
Meanwhile, he isn’t nearly as bad at hitting for average as 2019 suggested. No, he’ll never be a .300 hitter but Campana has shown when he gets hot that he can lock in and be hard to get out. Hitting for a .250-ish average seems very possible.
That should be more than enough too as I absolutely love his power potential. Campana has a powerful swing and could hit for 25-plus home runs. If he fills out his frame that could easily turn into 30-plus home runs.
The Red Sox will have learned from last year to be patient with Campana. If they are, he could reward them pretty nicely. However, he’s clearly still quite a ways away from the Majors.