With the regular season three weeks away, Kristian Campbell is still pushing for a spot on the Boston Red Sox’s Opening Day roster.
But even if he does make the cut, the 22-year-old still doesn’t know where he will be playing.
Campbell said he has been splitting time 50/50 between second base and left field throughout spring training. He is starting in left against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday after doing the same Monday against the Baltimore Orioles, but manager Alex Cora said he expects him to play some second on Wednesday.
Cora admitted he hasn’t seen much from Campbell in the outfield, and that putting him out there has mostly been a byproduct of wanting his bat in the lineup.
Campbell said Cora has been one of his top mentors at second, right alongside superstar free agent addition Alex Bregman. As Cora sees it, it’s his responsibility to pass down whatever he picked up during his own career, especially from legendary coach Sandy Alomar Sr.
“The knowledge I’ve learned, it’s passing it forward, that’s the beauty of this game,” Cora said. “Whenever I have a chance to be out there, I just give them my pointers.”
Converting double plays, locking down arm slots and perfecting the rhythm of his footwork have become the main focuses for Campbell, who Cora classified as an adept visual learner.
“If you talk about it, he’ll hesitate a little bit, but as soon as he sees it, he gets it,” Cora said. “Maybe it’s the Spanglish in me he doesn’t understand, but he’s doing better.”
At the plate, Campbell opened up Grapefruit League play hitless through five games. That stood in sharp contrast to his minor league season in 2024, when he hit .330 with a .997 OPS.
Campbell finally notched a single on Monday, which he said he was relieved to get out of the way.
“It’s definitely good, it feels like everything’s getting better each day,” Campbell said. “It was definitely good to get that monkey off my back, for sure.”
The stakes are high for Campbell in the weeks ahead, considering he is ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the Red Sox system and the No. 7 prospect in baseball. But instead of letting the pressure of the big picture get to him, Campbell has a mantra to stay focused on the little things.
“Just think about it day-by-day, one day at a time,” Campbell said. “Stay positive, stay grateful and be prepared for each day as they come.”
