Biography
Gustavo Angel Campero Patrón (born June 18, 1999) is a Colombian professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2024.
Professional career
New York Yankees
On July 12, 2016, Campero signed with the New York Yankees as an international free agent. He started his career as a catcher before switching to an outfielder. Campero made his professional debut in 2017, splitting the season between the Dominican Summer League Yankees and rookie-level Gulf Coast League Yankees. He returned to the GCL Yankees in 2018, but played in only 2 games due to injury.
Campero spent the 2019 campaign with the rookie-level Pulaski Yankees, playing in 36 games and batting .293/.374/.414 with two home runs, 12 RBI, and 10 stolen bases. Campero did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Los Angeles Angels
On December 10, 2020, the Angels selected Campero in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. He spent the 2021 campaign with the Single-A Inland Empire 66ers, playing in 41 games and slashing .245/.316/.360 with four home runs, 16 RBI, and eight stolen bases.
Campero began the 2022 season with the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas, but played in only 6 games. He split 2023 between Rocket City and the High-A Tri-City Dust Devils, accumulating a .330/.408/.632 batting line with 12 home runs, 42 RBI, and 20 stolen bases in 64 total appearances.
Campero began 2024 with Rocket City, and was promoted to the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees in August. On September 15, 2024, Campero was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut that day against the Houston Astros, recording his first career RBI. In 13 games for the Angels, Campero batted .239/.271/.348 with one home run, six RBI, and three stolen bases.
Campero was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake to begin the 2025 season.
International career
Campero represents Colombia in international competition. In five plate appearances at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, he slashed .200/.200/.200, tallying one hit. In Colombia's game against Mexico, he hit a ball that shortstop Luis Urías mishandled, allowing Jorge Alfaro to score to give Colombia the lead. Columbia would go on to win 5-4.