ARLINGTON, Texas — For Kristian Campbell, the pinch me moment came right as he walked into the visitor’s clubhouse at Globe Life Field for the first time.

Right across the room directly opposite the door was his locker, and hanging front and center was his first big league uniform.

“My eyes lit up,” Campbell said. “I was like oh shoot it’s my name on the back of a Red Sox uniform with a number and everything!”

Less than two years removed from being drafted out of Georgia Tech, Campbell is officially a major leaguer. The 22-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric ascent that saw him rise from relative afterthought to one of MLB’s top prospects, and over the weekend he was given the news that he’d made Boston’s Opening Day roster.

Campbell got the start at second base and batted sixth in his MLB debut, going 1 for 3 with a single and a walk while largely playing a clean game defensively.

“It’s the big leagues man, it’s not easy to do it. He was nervous. He put a good at bat with the walk and the last one he hit it hard,” said manager Alex Cora. “Overall it was a good one, and we won, so everyone’s happy.”

Prior to the game Cora said Campbell will likely play every day at either second base or in the outfield, and that he’d shown enough over the second half of spring training to earn himself a shot. The club was particularly impressed with his plate approach, and while they feel confident in his ability to produce and will give him plenty of leeway as he settles in, it’s too soon to say if he’s truly ready.

“We don’t know if he’s ready,” Cora said. “But we do believe his athleticism, controlling the strike zone, they’re going to play here.”

Campbell making the team might have seemed unlikely at the midway point of camp. Through the first few weeks the rookie struggled at the plate and got most of his playing time on the road with bench players and minor leaguers. Cora said Campbell was trying to do too much early but eventually got his game back in sync, and Campbell said seeing more pitches helped him get back on track.

“You know you’re going to hit, it’s just a matter of time,” Campbell said. “I’ve been working my whole life for this moment. It’s not really about the last six or seven weeks, it’s about the last 15 years.”

Campbell got the news he’d be playing on Opening Day with enough notice that his parents, siblings and girlfriend were all able to make the trip from Georgia to see him play. He said he didn’t have any trouble sleeping the night before and tried to follow teammates’ advice to soak in the moment and just be himself.

But as a rookie he will still be prone to occasional ribbing from his teammates, and Cora let it slip the rookie had invited some good natured abuse earlier in the week after committing a humorous faux pax.

“He’s going to get mad at me but I don’t care,” Cora said. “When we got to the hotel in Mexico he asked who is his roommate?”

“By the way,” he told him later, “there’s no roommates in the big leagues.”