Campbell finding niche as a pitcher

Brett Campbell went to the University of Georgia after high school but left for Kennesaw State because he wanted to play in the field. The Bulldogs wanted Campbell to concentrate on pitching — something he wasn’t receptive to at the time.

“That’s kind of a funny story,” Campbell said. “They just wanted me to pitch, but I was set on playing in the infield. Things come back to bite you every once in a while. It probably would have been a little different if I had stayed at Georgia and pitched. Everything happens for a reason.”

Campbell is now the closer for Savannah, the Washington Nationals’ Class A affiliate in the South Atlantic League. After Campbell threw about 20 innings at Kennesaw State, the Expos selected him in the 34th round of the 2004 draft.

As a member of the Georgia pitching staff, Campbell’s every appearance would have been watched by the scouts that flock to Southeastern Conference contests. Instead, Campbell started at shortstop and came in to close games occasionally for a Division II program about 20 miles north of Atlanta that played its home games at Stillwell Stadium, which is affectionately called “The Shake.”

“I think the word got out early in the season that I was running it up there pretty good,” Campbell said. “I had some scouts come to the games. It’s tough to be seen when you’re only throwing an inning here or there.

“I knew I was a good college infielder, but I wasn’t a prospect infielder. I knew I had a pretty good arm and I could run it up there in the low 90s off the mound, so if I was going to get drafted, it was going to be as a pitcher.”

Campbell has gone from an unknown small-college infielder to a quality relief prospect in a hurry. He opened his first full season as a pitcher with 21 consecutive scoreless appearances over 282/3 innings.

His numbers remain impressive: 16 saves and a 1.80 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 45 innings. He has been one of the top relief pitchers in the South Atlantic League and earned an All-Star nod in the process.

“I was throwing a lot of first-pitch strikes and getting ahead in the count [earlier this season],” Campbell said. “Then I was really able to use my slider. Lately, I’ve been getting behind in the count and having to throw fastballs, and they’ve been sitting dead red on them.”

Savannah manager Randy Knorr said some of Campbell’s troubles might have been his fault. Knorr has used Campbell for more than one inning on many occasions this season, and it is hard to fault him. Campbell has allowed only nine earned runs and can make it a seven-inning game when he shuts teams down for two on his own.

The past four times Campbell has gone more than one inning, however, he has allowed at least one run.

“I might have hurt him a little lately because I let him go a couple innings at a time when I probably shouldn’t have,” Knorr said. “When you manage though, you want to win some games. These guys go out and bust their butts for you, and you want to try and get the win for them. I’ve got to keep an eye on it.”

Campbell didn’t pitch often in college, and it wasn’t much different in high school.

“I’ve logged more innings this year than I have my entire career,” Campbell said. “I was very raw in high school, and I really didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I was a pretty good high school infielder, so [my coach] just kept me there.”

Because Campbell redshirted a year in college, he is a little older than most of the top prospects in the league. But Campbell’s inexperience as a pitcher means he’s more like a 19- or 20-year old kid than a 23-year old veteran.

As he develops a third pitch to complement his fastball and slider, Campbell could move through the system quickly. He already has made huge developmental strides, and there have been other converted position players who have successfully made it to the major leagues — current closers Trevor Hoffman, Troy Percival and Yhency Brazoban are good examples.

“When I’m going good, my mechanics are good. I’m a big mechanics guy,” Campbell said. “I’ve really worked hard on cleaning up my mechanics. I’ve been working on a third pitch as well. I threw a changeup earlier in the year, but I just didn’t have a lot of confidence in it. We’ve been working on a split-finger [fastball] lately, and it’s come around pretty good.”