FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2013\u00a0Kristian Campbell\u2019s one-out single in the first plated the first Red Sox run of 2026, and he came within feet of a grand slam in the fourth but had to settle for a sacrifice fly in Friday\u2019s 18-3 victory over the Northeastern Huskies.<\/p>\n
Even this early in spring training, it\u2019s clear that Campbell feels more comfortable than last year, when he was a top prospect in his first big-league camp and competing to make the Opening Day roster, which he ultimately did. If his demeanor isn\u2019t enough of an indication, he\u2019ll gladly admit it, too. More reserved than fellow \u201cBig Three\u201d prospects Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer, Campbell, still only 23 years old, had another type of adjustment to make, one that had been difficult for him in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing into college from high school, you don\u2019t really know anyone around you, you\u2019ve got to get used to people, coaches, just people around you, and there\u2019s a lot to do all at once sometimes,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cIt was the same thing, kind of, last year coming into big-league camp, not really being familiar with anybody. Just getting to know your teammates, getting to know the coaches, and everybody all at once can be tough sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are different in different ways,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m more on the quiet side, so it takes me a second to get used to people sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
A key aspect of Campbell\u2019s comfortability is daily outfield work, something that will continue throughout the Grapefruit League schedule, because Wilyer Abreu, Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Masataka Yoshida are all participating in next month\u2019s World Baseball Classic. Though Campbell said he\u2019s going to miss his teammates while they\u2019re competing in the tournament and will be watching their games, he\u2019s \u201clooking forward to\u201d getting consistent playing time in the outfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, especially because I\u2019ve been working with the outfielders every day \u2026 that\u2019s my group,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cI definitely feel like an outfielder for sure. I think last year I definitely felt like a utility (player).\u201d<\/p>\n
This does, however, create questions about where Campbell fits beyond preseason play.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure, in the outfield I definitely can (let my athleticism take over),\u201d Campbell said enthusiastically. \u201cI\u2019ve got two Gold Glovers to learn from (in Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu).\u201d<\/p>\n
Defensive struggles impacted Campbell\u2019s bat last season, and vice versa. He hit .301 with a .901 OPS in 29 games between Opening Day and the end of April, and earned Rookie of the Month honors. But in 38 games between the start of May until his demotion to Triple-A Worcester in late June, he batted .159 with a .465 OPS. \u201cFor me it goes hand in hand,\u201d he explained. \u201cJust adjusting to the level of play, the speed of the game is one thing, and then trying to keep up with the level of play on defense is another thing also.\u201d<\/p>\n
Campbell spent the rest of the season working in Triple-A and played some winter ball in Puerto Rico. He arrived in camp financially secure on the eight-year, $60 million extension he signed last April, but less certain of his positional future with the Red Sox than last spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying to keep up as a young player is tough sometimes,\u201d Cambell said, \u201cand I was doing it for a minute (last year). That was the bright side of it, and then I didn\u2019t do it for a couple months. That\u2019s how it goes sometimes, but there\u2019s plenty of development to be done, and I\u2019m still working hard to get better each and every day.\u201d \u2018<\/p>\n
Begin with a blowout<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t even count toward the spring training record, let alone the 2026 season record, but baseball returned at last to the Red Sox universe on a sun-soaked Friday afternoon at JetBlue Park.\u00a0And in blowout fashion, as they demolished the Northeastern University Huskies 18-3 in their annual exhibition matchup.<\/p>\n
The first two innings of the pitching-and-defense-first 2026 Red Sox was less than ideal, but they finished the seven-inning game strong, scoring at least one run every inning between the third and sixth, including nine runs in the final frame.<\/p>\n
Right-handed prospect Tyler Uberstine, described by manager Alex Cora earlier this week as \u201cintriguing,\u201d struggled through his 1 \u2153 innings (20 pitches, 15 strikes). After opening with a three-pitch strikeout, Uberstine allowed three straight singles to give the Huskies an immediate 1-0 lead before he could retire the side. NEU scored again in top of the second, on left-fielder Anthony Ruggiero\u2019s single, back-to-back stolen bases and an error by catcher Ronald Rosario, the first of two errors the Red Sox made in the inning.<\/p>\n
Those were the only errors Boston committed. Max Carlson, Wyatt Olds, who received the win, Noah Song, Jeremy Wu-Yelland, and Jack Anderson pitched the rest of the way. Anderson led the staff with two innings and matched Uberstine\u2019s game-leading three strikeouts, but allowed the final Huskies run in the top of the seventh before the two-hour and 22-minute contest game to an end.<\/p>\n
Masataka Yoshida collected the first hit and first extra-bagger of 2026. Playing left-field and batting second behind Nate Eaton, Yoshida doubled and scored on Kristian Campbell\u2019s RBI single.<\/p>\n
The first Red Sox home run of 2026 belonged to Rosario, who greeted NEU\u2019s Scott Longo with a 408-foot solo shot to begin the bottom of the third. Rosario stopped at second, believing he had a double, only to be waved around by third-base coach Tim Hudson.<\/p>\n
Shortstop prospect Mikey Romero hit the first triple of the year, an RBI knock in the bottom of the fourth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2013\u00a0Kristian Campbell\u2019s one-out single in the first plated the first Red Sox run of 2026,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":583806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2375],"tags":[5,141,48,2542,715,792,4,89,2543,151],"class_list":{"0":"post-583805","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-red-sox","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-red-sox","11":"tag-bostonredsox","12":"tag-kristian-campbell","13":"tag-masataka-yoshida","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-red-sox","16":"tag-redsox","17":"tag-spring-training"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116105675382790829","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=583805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/583805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/583806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=583805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=583805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=583805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}