WORCESTER — When the Red Sox optioned Kristian Campbell to Triple-A after a roller-coaster 2-½ month start to his major league career, Alex Cora said the decision was made to give Campbell a chance to “reset” away from the bright lights of the big league. That reset period has, already, been much longer than many would have anticipated.
It has been three months since Campbell was demoted on June 20, and barring a surprise development in the final week of the season, he will finish the year having not returned to the Red Sox. Despite the major league club staying in contention all year and having need after need pop up due to injuries, Campbell has not been a factor. For various reasons, the club has decided both parties are better off with the talented 23-year-old playing for the WooSox.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow insists that the Red Sox didn’t send Campbell down with any certain intentions when they did so in the middle of a West Coast trip in the days following the Rafael Devers trade. The goal was to always let Campbell’s development dictate his status. As the season went on, the Red Sox had plenty of opportunities available in both their infield and outfield. Instead of recalling Campbell, they’ve cycled through David Hamilton, Nate Eaton and Nick Sogard, signed veteran Nathaniel Lowe, promoted Jhostynxon Garcia for his first big league cameo and even dedicated a roster spot to Ali Sánchez, a third catcher who has two plate appearances.
“I think we were all reluctant to put a timeline on (Campbell’s return) because it was going to be the work and the progress that dictated that rather than say, ‘Hey, you have to be back by this date, or we expect that you’re gonna be back by this date,’” Breslow said this week. “We’ve definitely seen pretty significant improvements across the board in what he’s doing. We’re constantly having conversations about where is the right place for him to continue to make that progress.
“Every one of these decisions is about trying to balance what needs to happen here — which is giving ourselves the best chance of winning as many games as we can — and then what is best for the development of an individual player.”
So far, the answer has been Worcester. Campbell has played 73 games for the WooSox, hitting .273 with eight homers, 11 doubles, 38 RBIs and a .799 OPS while playing five different positions (all three outfield spots, first base and second). The numbers don’t tell the whole story, though. The Red Sox want Campbell to show more consistency with his approach, hit the ball hard more often and perhaps just as importantly, appear more settled on the defensive side of the ball. His 26% strikeout rate has stood out.
“He has had some good days, hitting the ball hard, and others, not so great,” said manager Alex Cora. “He’s been getting hits, playing better defensively in the outfield. There’s still work, offensively, and we’re gonna grind with him.
“He’s been OK. A few weeks ago, he got on a roll there, hitting the ball hard in the air, which is something very important. But there’s other parts of the game that we’ve got to be better (at).”
It hasn’t been easy for Campbell, who is now trying to take his situation in stride. His fast-track to the big leagues after just 137 minor league games (and only 19 at Triple-A) resulted in his big league debut, a $60 million contract extension and American League Rookie of the Month honors in a five-week span. From July 2023, when he was drafted in the fourth round out of Georgia Tech, to the end of April, when he had a .935 OPS through 28 MLB games, there was little adversity for Campbell. That changed during a 39-game stretch in which he hit .154 with 42 strikeouts in 144 plate appearances and was demoted.
To Campbell, the second half of 2025 has represented another “redshirt” season, just like the real one he experienced with the Yellow Jackets as a freshman in 2022.
“I’m still proud of myself with the way I handled everything this year. It’s been a minute (since I’ve struggled),” Campbell said. “The last time was probably college, when I got redshirted my freshman year. That counted for me. I kind of feel the same way as that. Redshirting again, to be honest.
“There’s a lot more people that go through this than I actually realized when it first happened, because I didn’t know,” Campbell added. “You kind only hear about the great parts of people’s careers. You never realize what they went through when they were younger. I never knew Mike Trout got optioned. I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me that.”
Red Sox decision-makers, as well as Campbell, acknowledge there are many areas of focus when it comes to his development. One is offensive consistency. Another is defensive improvement, especially after the game looked like it sped up on Campbell at second base in May and June, resulting in him grading out as one of the worst defenders in baseball at the position.
“Defensively, working through both where we see his ability to impact our team in the short-term and then probably what the long-term fit is,” said Breslow. “He’s moved around a little bit. For him to come up here and contribute as a complete player, he’s figuring out how to put all those components together. There’s no doubt he’s got the ability, he’s got the talent.”
The wild card in all of it is his future positional home, and it’s a question some with the Red Sox would like to answer sooner rather than later.
In the wake of Triston Casas’ season-ending knee injury and Devers’ refusal to play first base, the Red Sox introduced Campbell to the position in hopes he could take over. They didn’t see enough progress to give him a chance there in the majors. At Triple-A, it has been more of the same story, with WooSox manager Chad Tracy noting this week that the “little intricacies” of infield positions are still something Campbell needs to work on.
There’s a school of thought that the Red Sox would be best sticking Campbell in a certain position — say, left field — let the bat play, and figure everything else out later. That is, of course, easier said than done considering the glut of talented outfielders on the big league roster. For now, Campbell is a man without a positional home.
“I’m just going to be honest with you. I like him in the outfield,” Tracy said. “I think he needs to be a utility player, though. Part of what makes him so special is he’s an elite athlete that we know when he’s right, he can really hit. And a guy that also has the ability to move around and play a whole bunch of spots on the diamond, that’s an invaluable player.”
Offense is clearly Campbell’s calling card, as evidenced by his phenomenal 2024 season in the minors and his ability to dominate big league pitching in the first month of his career. May, though, exposed some weaknesses. Swing-and-miss became a big part of Campbell’s offensive profile and that continued into the summer in Worcester. Then, in July and August, making quality contact became an issue even as Campbell produced at an acceptable rate. The entire offensive puzzle hasn’t been put back together to the club’s liking so far. Production numbers in Triple-A can be tricky because of poor pitch quality from many opponents. While Campbell has done damage against poor offerings, velocity has remained an issue as well as whiffing on good breaking balls.
“It’s been a sequential progression where, when he first got down there, the focus was getting the swing back on track, getting him to hit the ball out in front,” said Breslow. “He’s hitting the ball hard again and the group has kind of worked through that.
“He continues to make great swing decisions, but, the strikeout rate, as an example, was pretty high up here, and higher than what we had anticipated, and then also, initially when he got back to Worcester. Now, strikeout rate is coming down, walk rate is getting back up.”
For Campbell, the lesson has been about emphasizing a sound approach instead of hoping his unorthodox swing can carry him to results.
“Really just going up there with an approach and sticking to my approach throughout the whole at-bat,” he said. “Just trying to keep as simple as possible when I go up there and not do too much. I think that can also get to you a little bit when you get up there in Boston, trying to do too much sometimes.
“I’ve been doing better just kind of sticking to a plan. I want to go up to bat and not be all over the place.”
In April, it would have been shocking to surmise that the Red Sox would be fighting for a postseason spot in late September without Campbell having been a factor for months. Circumstances have dictated that reality, though, and the Red Sox have appreciated the opportunity to slow things down for a player they’re high on while not sacrificing the opportunity to win in the majors.
To those who say committing eight years and $60 million to an unproven player in the first week of his big league career was a rushed decision, Breslow urges caution.
“You make a commitment like that with the long-term outlook in mind. Our long term outlook has not changed at all,” Breslow said. “I still have all the confidence in the world that he can be a meaningful contributor to a number of really good Red Sox teams. For most young players, the initial path is bumpy. And this was a little bit bumpy. It’s a huge credit to him that he’s put his head down, he’s gone down there and he’s gone to work, That’s all you can ask for.”
With his head down and a focus on a big league return down the line, Campbell will head to Fort Myers on Monday, first as part of the “stay-ready group” if a need arises in Boston in the final week, then to start offseason workouts. As he spends the final days of the minor league season at Polar Park, he thinks he’s better as a player than he was at the start of 2025 — and better off after everything he has experienced.
“Nothing physically or mentally happened or anything, though, so that’s the good part,” Campbell said. “Baseball is just like that sometimes. It hasn’t happened in a minute to me like that, but it’s good to go through it at an early age so when it happens again — because it’s gonna happen again — I can get out of it faster than how long it took this time.”
“I’ve learned a lot…,” Campbell said. “Getting better, sadly, isn’t always linear. Sometimes you’ve gotta go down to get back up. That’s just what it is sometimes.”
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