Page 8 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, July 31, 2026 CHASING THE DREAM: Malden native Paul Campbell returns to the mound hoping to make it back to Major League Baseball Former Malden & Revere resident is the ONLY Malden pitcher ever to start an MLB game; 1 of only 3 Malden MLB hurlers By Steve Freker T here have been two constants in the long and storied baseball career of Paul Campbell: He throws gas and he’s a fighter on the mound and in life. Campbell is one of only three Malden residents — along with former Malden High Hall of Famers Kevin McGlinchy (1999, Atlanta Braves) and Rich Barker (1999, Chicago Cubs) — to ever pitch at Major League Baseball (MLB) and the only pitcher from Malden to ever start an MLB game, which he did on April 30, 2021, when he toed the mound for the Miami Marlins. Campbell grew up in Malden and has also brought passion and self-motivation to the mound and that is why it should be no surprise to anyone who has followed Campbell’s now, nearly 10-year professional baseball career, that the fireballing righthander from Malden is “back on the bump” this summer. Campbell is now back at it, just one step away from a Major League Baseball callup, toiling with the Iowa Cubs at the Triple-A level at Principal Park in Des Moines. He signed on with the top Chicago Cubs affiliate, Iowa, in April this year, soon after MLB training camp ended. Campbell marks 31st birthday with a return to the mound Campbell marked his 31st birthday this past Sunday, July 26, with a second appearance back for the Iowa Cubs after a brief stop on the injury list from July 8 to July 15. He surrendered a pair of runs in one inning on two hits, striking out one. For the season, Campbell has logged 16 appearances with 61 1/3 innings of mound work, starting nine games. He has a 1-5 overall win-loss record, with a 5.68 earned run average. Campbell’s strikeouts-to-walks ratio has been impressive this season, registering 54 Ks to just 26 bases on balls in his 61 1/3 innings of work. Campbell has had a seesaw journey back to being a whisper of being back in the big leagues after reaching the ultimate, a 16game stint at the Major League level with the Miami Marlins in the 2021 season, where he made one Major League start and logged 26 2/3 innings, with a 2-3 overall record and a 6.41 ERA. Once again he maintained a favorable strikeouts-to-walks number, punching our 26 big league hitters in the 26.2 innings and walking only 10. He was the only Malden resident to ever start a C AMPBEL L - CUBS: Pau l Campbell is back in MLBaffiliated baseball with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, hoping for another shot at Major League Baseball. (Courtesy/Iowa Cubs) game on an MLB mound In MLB history, Campbell remains the only Malden resident to ever start a game on a Major League mound and one of just three to ever appear in a Major League game as a pitcher. Kevin McGlinchy (Atlanta, Tampa Bay, 1996-2002) and Rich Barker (Chicago Cubs, 1996-1999) only appeared in Major League relief roles in the late 1990s. No other Malden resident has ever pitched in the Major Leagues other than those three. Storm clouds rolled in quickly for Campbell in his only Major League season, after three years in the minors. He got his first MLB start on Friday, April 30, 2021, but on Monday, May 3, it was announced that he was suspended for 80 games after testing positive for a PED, which meant forfeiting about half of his $570,350 MLB salary that season. Campbell, a Rule 5 acquisition in December from Tampa Bay, at the time said he “never knowingly ingested the PED, or had even SPORTS | SEE PAGE 11
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