Marino Campana

Position: RF
Level: Class A
Affiliate: Greenville Drive
League: South Atlantic League
Born: 11/28/1997 (Age: 26)
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 180
B/T: Right / Right
Acquired: Signed as international free agent July 2, 2014 (BOS)

Prospect Spotlight

Boston signed Campana for $100K on the first day of the July 2nd period in 2014. Physicality, raw power, and a strong outfield arm were the calling cards then, and while those tools still intrigue, there hasn’t been much polish added since he turned pro. Now 20-years-old, Campana hits in the middle of Greenville’s lineup, playing right field for the Low-A club.

A muscular and athletic 6’4’’, the right-handed hitter shows serious power potential in BP. His raw already grades as a 60, and when you consider his age and remaining physical projection, it isn’t unreasonable to project double-plus raw power down the road. The question is how much power he gets to in games, as his approach and contact ability are still close to the bottom of the 20-80 scale. Campana has a wild, lashing swing that doesn’t take a consistent path to the baseball. Pitch recognition is an issue, as shows little concept of adjusting the barrel to soft stuff or shortening up to keep an at-bat alive. In my three-game viewing, he consistently buckled against (even marginal) right-handed breaking stuff, leaking open his front hip and drifting away from pitches to the outer-half. Defensively, Campana has prototypical right field tools—he’s a large, athletic frame who covers ground with long strides and shows a 60-grade throwing arm. I was impressed with the throws I saw from him across the series and an infield/outfield, all of them showing velocity and firm, low carry.

Campana has loud raw tools that show up in a workout setting, but he’s too raw at the plate for me to put a regular ceiling grade on him. This is the type of profile that can flame out around the middle of the minor league ladder. If he does figure something out at the plate, a realistic ceiling could be that of Junior Lake: a physical, athletic 5th outfielder with speed and power who never finds enough consistency for more than a few cups of coffee.