It appears the Red Sox have found their second baseman.

According to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam, Red Sox rookie Kristian Campbell has been informed that he will be on the Opening Day roster. Campbell is expected to be in the lineup when the Red Sox kick their season off Thursday against the Texas Rangers.

Campbell won the job despite a bumpy spring training in which he batted .167 with three extra-base hits over 20 Grapefruit League games. He got off to a particularly rough start and at one point began playing primarily in the outfield, but at around the midway point of camp turned the corner and began receiving significantly more playing time with the club’s projected starters.

Once Campbell closed out the Grapefruit League schedule with three straight starts at second alongside the starters, the writing was on the wall.

Campbell winning the second base job caps off a remarkable rise for the 22-year-old, who was a fourth-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of Georgia Tech and entered last season with little hype as a prospect. Then he went on to post one of the most dominant seasons by a minor leaguer in recent memory, batting .330 with 20 home runs, 77 RBI, 24 stolen bases and a .997 OPS in 115 games split between High-A, Double-A and Triple-A. He swept most of the major MiLB awards and came into 2025 ranked as the No. 4 prospect in MLB according to Baseball America.