WORCESTER, Mass. – Even as the frustration piles up for a former top Red Sox prospect, Kristian Campbell's belief in his ability to overcome what has now been a yearlong bout of adversity is what sustains him. And, so, too, does the chance to be an example for other young players who take a similarly herky-jerky path.
For Campbell, who broke camp as Boston’s Opening Day second baseman in 2025 and signed an eight-year, $60 million contract just days later, his current woes at the plate represent a chance to turn himself into the ultimate feel-good story.
“[Adversity] does make you better,” said Campbell. “Everybody’s route and path is different. I'm working every day to get back, and they know that I really want to get back as soon as possible. I know I’ve got some things I need to correct down here first before I go back."
Campbell’s current numbers for Triple-A Worcester (.209 average, .618 OPS, two homers, 21 RBIs, 83 strikeouts in 211 at-bats) represent a player who is struggling to rediscover himself more than one year after he was optioned back to the Minors.
It was a demotion nobody could have forecasted for a player who was the American League’s Player of the Month last April.
But sometimes a shooting star can plummet as swiftly as it rises.
Remember, Campbell played just one year at a major college program (Georgia Tech) before the Red Sox took him in the fourth round of the 2023 Draft.
He had all of 601 plate appearances in the Minors before winning Boston’s second-base job last spring.
What has been a roller-coaster thus far is something the 23-year-old hopes he can turn into inspiration -- once he stabilizes his career and punches his ticket back to the Red Sox.
“It's my first time experiencing [these struggles], but once I get through it, I'm not coming back here,” said Campbell. “I’m excited though, in general, to get through it, and I'm taking it in, because this is a story I can tell somebody when I’m 30, 31 or 32 and maybe there’s another prospect or something coming along that's maybe going through something that I went through. So I’ve got to remember all these [struggles] now, for down the road just in case I have to bring it up to a young kid one day.”
After playing mainly infield last season, Campbell is working exclusively as an outfielder this season, playing all three spots and showing significant improvement with his range and his arm. But that also makes his path back to Boston less obvious, because the Red Sox have Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu in the outfield, and the injured Roman Anthony expected back at some point.
Yet Campbell knows there’s no reason to even think about potential paths until he regains his hit tool. Over the offseason, Campbell tweaked his hitting setup, moving his hands lower to put him in a better hitting position. He experimented with the new setup during Winter Ball in Caguas, Puerto Rico, feeling like a fish out of water.
But in 85 April at-bats for Worcester, Campbell was hitting .294 and felt like he was onto something. Then he fell seriously ill in Rochester and had to sit for four straight days. Though he homered in his first game back, he lost the feel he had worked so hard to regain. Campbell hit .188 in May and is at .104 so far in June with one extra-base hit and two RBIs in 48 at-bats.
Campbell isn’t using the illness as an excuse. What he realizes is that he must learn how to overcome things like that if he’s going to be successful at the highest level. He noted a similar thing happened last year with the Red Sox, when he suffered a minor rib injury at the start of May, missed three days, and couldn’t get his groove back.
“Hitting is about feel and when you have a good approach, going, it kind of does suck when you get injured or sick and something comes up and you miss a significant amount of time,” said Campbell. “Because you’ve got to come back and try to regain all that. It’s another learning moment. Hopefully it won’t happen again.”
Heading into last season, Campbell was part of Boston’s vaunted Big Three of prospects along with Anthony and Marcelo Mayer. All three have taken their lumps this season. Anthony got off to a rough start, and has been out since May 5 as he tries to recover from a partially torn tendon in his right hand/wrist. Mayer has struggled to find any consistency at the plate and is hitting .226 with a .632 OPS in his first 113 Major League games.
“Hopefully nobody has written us off or anything. We’re all still young,” said Campbell.
Campbell looks at the big picture and notes that the development of young players can be unpredictable. He uses Rafaela, Boston’s standout center fielder, as an example.
“When I first got drafted, I remember watching Rafaela a lot, and I've seen him get better each and every year,” Campbell said. “Defensively, I don't think he changed anything. Offensively, he’s gotten better every year and that just comes with time. I don’t think anything magically happened. It’s just maturity and in the game of major league baseball, it just kind of happens over time.
“You have to work for it and hopefully it will work out that way. The more and more you play, the better and better you’ll be. That’s what I’ve heard, just talking to other players who have played Major League Baseball. The more you get exposed to it and see pitchers, you start seeing patterns. ‘They’re going to get me out like this. How do I counter it so I can beat him again?’ It’s just a game of going back and forth. Your first time up can be hard.”
Several times during the interview, Campbell spoke of when he gets back … not if.
“I know I have to improve and what I need to improve on,” Campbell said. “There’s things to work on. I know I can compete at that level. Whenever I go back, I won’t make as many mistakes, I won't be making a lot of errors, I will be capitalizing on pitches in the zone that I can take advantage of.
“When I go back, I’ll know exactly what makes me a good player, instead of just going out there relying on athletic ability. Next time I go up there, I’ll be in a good spot. I’ll be fine. It’s taken a little bit more time than people probably thought but I think it’s going to be better than if I was rushed back up again.”