The Boston Red Sox's farm system has been the subject of much hype for the past two seasons. Most of the praise revolves around top prospects Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer.
Anthony and Mayer have had Boston fans' eyes on them since they were drafted, but Campbell is a more recent addition to the "Big Three." After the Red Sox traded top catching prospect Kyle Teel, billed as their catcher of the future, to the White Sox for Garrett Crochet, Campbell's meteoric rise through Boston's farm system in 2024 allowed him to seamlessly join the spotlight with Anthony and Mayer. So far, they've each lived up to the hype.
In MLB insider Jeff Passan's Feb. 26 story about Boston's top three prospects, he calls them "the best trio of position prospects in a generation." While that may be true, such a title packs pressure on the players, the oldest of them being 22.
Anthony and Campbell entered spring training this year with the chance to make the Opening Day roster. Mayer's 2024 season ended early due to a back injury. He's still never appeared in a Triple-A game, which makes his chances at the Opening Day roster slim. He's still one of the Sox's top three prospects and No. 12 in all of baseball, but the pressure on Anthony and Campbell is a bit more immediate.
Jeff Passan praises Red Sox top prospects, adds to pressure on "Big Three"
The Boston Red Sox are building something special. Free and unlocked at ESPN: Inside Cage 4, where the Red Sox’s hitting philosophy helped make Kristian Campbell, Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer into the best position-playing-prospect trio in a generation: https://t.co/KGD6nNcTSx
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 26, 2025
Before the Red Sox traded for Crochet and signed Alex Bregman, it seemed like their top prospects would be some of the only notable changes to the 2025 roster. Campbell is a righty hitter, which Boston desperately needed before the Bregman signing. Anthony could supplement some of the pop lost when Tyler O'Neill departed in free agency.
Campbell is still in the running for the starting second base job and Anthony remains in the mix for a spot in the outfield, but they don't need to make the Opening Day squad as much as they did before. Still, the hype around them is massive, and the pressure to deliver has to be even bigger.
In 2024, Anthony batted .291/.396/.498 with a .894 OPS over 119 games and Campbell slashed .330/.439/.558 with a .997 OPS in 115 games. The two players were promoted to Triple-A around the same time and clearly handled the highest level of the minor leagues well, but the jump to MLB is not easy. Plenty of top prospects take a while to adjust to the majors (just look at Jackson Holliday's stats from last year) or never live up to their potential. There's no guarantee the Red Sox's "Big Three" reach the majors and immediately make a positive impact, but plenty of fans treat it as a sure thing.
Even if Anthony, Campbell and Mayer don't find their way onto the big league roster out of spring training, more time to develop in the minor leagues can only help. If any of them do make it, MLB fans everywhere will be quick to judge if the hype was worth it.
The Red Sox, reporters and other guests around camp have praised the Big Three for their maturity. If they're as mature as everyone around them has said, the pressure from Passan's comment and other reports of their potential won't matter.