Red Sox Top Prospects Confident In Opening Day Roster Pursuit

BOSTON — The Red Sox would prefer to give their top prospects more time to marinate down in Triple-A Worcester, but they might not have a say in the matter.

Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell want to be in Texas on Opening Day.

“I’m going to go into spring training with that attitude and do everything I can (to make the team),” Anthony said on Tuesday. “But also at the same time, trusting the front office and what they have planned. But for me, that’s the mentality going into spring training.”

“That’s the goal,” Campbell said. “That’s been the goal the whole time — to compete. I love competing and the point of baseball is to compete. So that’s one of our goals, for sure.”

Red Sox Rookie Development Camp, which took place this week in Boston, was yet another opportunity for the duo to show what they were made of, and perhaps make another positive impression on big-league staff.

Marcelo Mayer did not participate due to an illness.

The Red Sox will allow all three an opportunity to make the roster out of camp, with Campbell perhaps being the most likely candidate.

Boston’s lineup is extremely left-handed heavy and currently doesn’t have an everyday second baseman in place. Alex Bregman and Nolan Arenado have been floated as external options who could come in and help fix that problem — though some shuffling would need to be done to do so. Campbell stepping into that role would be extremely helpful, while his ability to also play shortstop, center field and third base might help his case as the club looks to stay versatile. Anthony, of course, is the top prospect in all of baseball, so the clock is ticking on his eventual arrival.

It’s just a matter of time.