October 10, 2024 at 2:00 PM
2024 SoxProspects.com Awards: Rookie, Breakout, Comeback Players of the Year
We continue our SoxProspects.com Awards week with our Rookie, Breakout, and Comeback players of the year. Eligible Rookies will have fewer than 50 plate appearances or 15 innings pitched in their minor league careers. Comeback Player is awarded a player who has returned to prospect form from injury, poor performance, or a combination of the two. Breakout Player recognizes the player who made the greatest jump in prospect status during the season. The 2024 honorees included three players in the high minor leagues, all of whom currently sit in the top 25 in the current SoxProspects.com rankings.
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At first glance, Early's 2024 line does not leap out. The 2023 fifth-round pick out of the University of Virginia finished the season with a 3.99 ERA in 103 2/3 innings split between High-A Greenville and Double-A Portland. However, the combination of impressive peripheral numbers to match an intriguing scouting profile earns the 22-year-old southpaw recognition as the system's top rookie. Early's 138 strikeouts placed him second in the system, while his 30.9 percent rate was tops in the organization among those with more than 80 innings. He balanced that with solid walk numbers (39, an 8.7 percent rate), and only seven home runs allowed on the season. Much of Early's success is due to his rare combination of both being able to miss bats and keep the ball on the ground--his 64.5 percent ground ball rate was best in the organization. This produced a 2.82 xERA, a good indicator of his effectiveness that portends well for his development.
In addition to his fastball which touches the mid-90's, Early uses a changeup to particular effectiveness against right-handed batters, leading to slightly reversed platoon splits. Early is currently slotted 25th in the SoxProspects.com rankings after starting the season at 47th.
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Romero burst on the scene as a first-round pick in 2022 with a strong professional debut. However, a back injury suffered the following offseason, later diagnosed as a stress fracture, caused him to miss almost all of 2023 and rendered him ineffective in the 34 games in which he did play. Concerns were high when the injury cut into another offseason, causing him to miss much of spring training and sidelining him into May. After easing back in, however, the back issue has not come up again. Not only did Romero stay healthy, he excelled on the field, making adjustments and showing significant improvement as the year went on. Romero returned to the field in mid-May with a three-game rehab stint in the Florida Complex League.
Officially activated by Greenville on May 15, it wasn't until June 4th and 5th that he appeared in consecutive games. After six weeks of solid-but-uneven hitting, his bat woke up in July with a .354/.382/.781 that included three multi-homer games. Romero's power translating into games was a significant development; after hitting just one home run in 53 career games heading into the season, the 20-year-old blasted 16 in 2024. Ranked 27th in the system coming out of spring training, Romero climbed back up to the 14 spot.
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A year ago, Campbell was an lanky, athletic guy with a funky inside-out swing and questions about where he would land defensively. Those things all remain true, but spending a summer being the best hitter in the minor leagues dramatically changes that context. Ranked 45th in the organization in the SoxProspects.com end-of-year release, Campbell's athleticism, hand-eye-coordination, wrist strength--and, yes, his unconventional swing--made him the talk of Fort Myers in March. He jumped to 22nd in the pre-season rankings, though with some internal consternation that was overaggressive based on spring training hype. Campbell assuaged those concerns.
After a 9-for-46 start, Campbell recorded his first multi-hit game on April 30. He would record multiple knocks 33 more times on the year as he quickly proved himself too advanced for Greenville and then blasted his way through Portland all the way to Worcester. His final .327/.436/.556 line somewhat underrates his campaign. During an 86-game stretch from April 30 through August 23, the Georgia Tech product hit .365/.463/.620 with 27 doubles and 17 homers, winning the Eastern League MVP honor despite playing just 56 games for Portland. Outside the system's top-40 a year ago, Campbell now finds himself a consensus top-20 prospect in the game.
Photo Credit: Connelly Early, Mikey Romero, Kristian Campbell by Kelly O'Connor