Set the time machine back to June 18th, 2025; the Boston Red Sox had just beaten the Seattle Mariners on the road. They were 39-37 and had won seven of their last eight games. They were heading to the rest of their West Coast trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles. The problem was that Kristian Campbell wasn't coming with them.
He was heading back to Massachusetts...specifically, Worcester, Massachusetts. Why? It was because Kristian Campbell was one of the worst hitters in baseball going into the month of June. Since May started, he was hitting .159 with just two home runs, nine RBIs, a .465 OPS, and 40 strikeouts in 38 games.
Red Sox Can't Give Up on Kristian Campbell Yet
Many believed that when he made the Opening Day roster, he was the start of the new line of prospects coming into the system, with Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony having joined the pack just a couple of months later. He was supposed to solidify second base as his own, just like Dustin Pedroia and Bobby Doerr did before him.
He even signed an extension with the team for eight years and $60 million. His April was one of the few things that were going right with Boston at the time, hitting .287, with an OPS of .848, three home runs, 10 RBIs, six doubles, and 25 hits in 24 games. But, there were many things wrong with Campbell, especially with his swing and defense fundamentals.
Scouts had a history of critiquing his swing and believed that it would be a broken one by the time he hit the minors. He proved them all wrong by winning the Minor League Player of the Year award in 2024, making himself the #2 prospect in the Sox's system for the 2025 season. But then, he struggled immensely in May and June and was sent back to AAA.
When he was demoted on June 19th, his confidence was shot. He struggled up until the All-Star Break, making fans wonder if he was truly ever going to be what they envisioned him to be. "Was he just a flash in the pan?" most had thought.
However, something sparked within him again. In his last 17 games, he's been batting .367 with four home runs, a .600 slugging percentage, and now has a .830 OPS on the season. Things are looking up for him, and with a strong August, he'll no doubt be considered for a call back up in September.
He's just got to figure out first base, and he'll be fine. He's figured out his swing mechanics, so let's see how his defense will prevail.