Page 12 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, December 13, 2019 Malden native Campbell rising rapidly through pro baseball ranks Malden & Everett residents help CCSU football to national ranking By Steve Freker D espite the nuclear explosion of media and social media outlets of all shapes and sizes over the last decade, there is one measuring stick that still remains when it comes to rating up-and-coming professional athletes. When you see them on television...they’ve hit “The Bigtime.” Well, the next pro athlete you might see on TV from this area could very well be Malden native and 2014 Malden Catholic graduate Paul Campbell. Campbell, 24, was the first Major League Baseball (MLB) draftee from Malden in 20 years when he was selected in the 21st round in 2017 and signed after his sophomore year out of Clemson University. The 6-1, 205 right-hander then proceeded to progress rapidly up the ranks of the Rays’ minor league farm system, including three level upgrades in this past 2019 season alone. Campbell started the season at Advanced Single A with the Charlotte (S.C.) Stone Crabs, but he was quickly promoted to the Double AA Montgomery (Ala.) Biscuits, where he spent the bulk of this past season. At THEO ZIDOR DANLEY EXILHOMME JJ COLIMON D.J. EXILHOMME the end of the Biscuits’ season, Campbell reached the highest level of minor league baseball when he was added to the roster of the Rays’ Triple AAA franchise, the iconic Durham (N.C.) Bulls before their playoff run. Campbell did not log any appearances at that level; it is speculated he could start the 2020 season there, barring a major jump to the big league roster. There’s a solid possibility Campbell could be tendered an invite to major league spring training next February, due to his rapid rise in the Rays’ system. Campbell has excelled at each Paul Campbell on the mound juncture of his professional career. To date, he has appeared in 87 games as a starter (39) or reliever, logging just under 300 innings He has fashioned a 3.69 earned run average, with a 2113 overall professional pitching record at the minor league level with three saves. Campbell has registered 94 walks and 262 strikeouts in 297 1/3 innings of work. Campbell appeared in nine games in 2017, his fi rst pro year, for the Gulf Coast Rays in the Rookie League. In the 2018 season he split time between Hudson Valley (N.Y.) in Short Season A ball, going 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA before being promoted to Single A Bowling Green (Ind.) where he went 4-1 with six more starts and a 2.70 ERA. This past season saw Campbell start in Advanced A with the Stone Crabs, where he went 5-4 in 11 starts and 59 innings, then finish the season at the Double AA level with Montgomery, where he was 8-4 in 16 starts with a 3.67 ERA and an impressive 20 walks and 63 strikeouts in 85 innings pitched. Campbell, who now makes his home in Florida in the Lakeland area, is the fi rst Malden native in nearly 20 years to be drafted professionally since Malden High alumnus Keith Forbes was picked out of Wallace (Ala.) State Community College in the 21st round of the 1998 draft by San Diego. Forbes got as high as the Advanced A level in the San Diego farm system. Campbell is the fi rst Malden resident and the second former Malden Catholic standout to advance to MLB’s Triple AAA level. Former Atlanta Braves major leaguer Kevin McGlinchy, who pitched in the 1999 World Series, played for the Triple AAA Richmond (Va.) Braves in 1998. DUANE BINNS PAUL CAMPBELL Ironically, McGlinchy, a 1995 Malden High School graduate, also played for the Durham Bulls when they were formerly an Atlanta Advanced A franchise in 1997. McGlinchy also was on the Tampa Rays roster for two seasons in 2001 and 2002. Former Malden Catholic star Dario Pizzano (Class of 2009), a Saugus resident, was the last
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