ORLANDO, Fla. ― While the MLB Winter Meetings offer a sense of the numerous paths to improving the Red Sox’ 2026 roster, trades and free agent signings aren’t the only way the team can improve its outlook for the coming year.

In 2025, Kristian Campbell had one of the more volatile rookie seasons in recent Red Sox memory. He was AL Rookie of the Month in April while hitting .301/.407/.495, then crashed to a .159/.243/.222 line in May and June that resulted in his demotion to Triple A for the rest of the year.

After April, Campbell never managed — either in the big leagues or minors — to look like the potential franchise cornerstone he’d become in his remarkable 2024 ascent from obscurity. Not only was he a less explosive hitter, but he lost weight and strength during the 2025 season, and appeared in many ways diminished by the toll of a year-long struggle.

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Against that backdrop, the decision by Campbell and the Sox that he play this winter in Puerto Rico is fascinating. The 23-year-old joined the Caguas Criollos over the weekend, going 1-for-3 with a walk. For now, he’s just DH-ing, with any conversations about potential work in the outfield or at second base to come.

“He’s DH-ing to start, getting his feet underneath him,” Red Sox farm director Brian Abraham said at the Winter Meetings. “Obviously the most important thing is to get at-bats, get some live ABs, so really excited to get down there, get some extra work, and see where things go.”

The winter ball assignment reflects that Campbell has regained size and strength since the end of the season — and points to a desire by both him and the Sox to lock in some offensive adjustments he’s made.

“Physically, he was able to put on a lot more weight. Obviously he looks a lot better to the naked eye. There’s a significant difference. I know he’s put a lot of work in,” said Abraham. “[And] there are some minor mechanical adjustments that he’s made with his approach and his actual stance, which has been good. We feel like he’s in a really good spot.”

Abraham said the decision to go to Puerto Rico — where Campbell is playing for a team managed by Sox bench coach Ramón Vázquez, and visited regularly by Sox manager (and Caguas native) Alex Cora — was a joint decision made in hopes of giving Campbell a foundation upon which to build entering 2026. While he’s often been overlooked in conversations about the 2026 roster, the Sox remain mindful of Campbell’s considerable ceiling if they can help him re-establish his offensive credentials.

“He obviously is a big piece of this,” said Abraham. “I think we know what the potential is and the opportunity that is ahead of him. I think balancing that with the reality of struggles that have happened in professional baseball, especially the major leagues — he’s not the first player to ever come up to the big leagues and struggle. … I think there’s still a ton of runway for him to be able to be a really good major league player and a successful one and an impactful one, and we’re excited about what that’s going to be, what that’s going to lead to, and certainly think that he has that plenty of time ahead of him to make sure he can do that.”

Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him @alexspeier.