If we’ve learned anything about the Boston Red Sox in the past week it’s that no one is safe. A few days after the Red Sox made a shocking blockbuster trade sending Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants, Boston decided to demote struggling infielder Kristian Campbell to Triple-A Worcester.
The Boston Red Sox are sending infielder Kristian Campbell to Triple-A, sources tell ESPN. Campbell, who signed an eight-year, $60 million contract this spring, was hitting .301/.407/.495 at the end of April but is .159/.243/.222 since. He'll get a chance to reset in Worcester.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 19, 2025
Campbell started the season strong, winning the second base job out of Spring Training and earning an eight-year, $60 million contract shortly after his major league debut. But the 22-year-old cooled off after a hot start, hitting .159/.243/.222 since the end of April.
With Craig Breslow showing no fear toward shaking up his major league roster, it’s fair to wonder who could be the next player on the chopping block. It turns out that player could be a key addition made last offseason and leave the Red Sox pitching staff as the next group to deserve an overhaul.
Red Sox Outfielder Roman Anthony Already on Thin Ice After Kristian Campbell Demotion
For the past month, Red Sox fans have been screaming for the team to call up top prospect Roman Anthony. But after slugging his way through Triple-A the first two months of the season, Anthony has hit a rough patch after getting the call to the major leagues.
Anthony has played in nine games since making his major league debut on June 9 but it hasn’t gone as well as fans had hoped. While he socked his first career home run in Monday’s win over the Seattle Mariners, he’s hitting just .074/.194/.222 with four RBI and a stolen base since arriving in Boston.
There are some redeeming factors in Anthony’s performance such as his 91.8 mph average exit velocity and his 21.5% chase rate according to Baseball Savant. But while he owns an expected slugging percentage of .443 against the fastball, that number drops to .219 against offspeed pitches and .113 against breaking pitches.
This was part of the reason why president of baseball operations Craig Breslow pushed back on bringing up Anthony before he was ready and his hand may have been forced thanks to the Red Sox injury situation in the outfield. That situation is also getting better by the day as Wilyer Abreu has begun a rehab assignment at Triple-A as he works his way back from an oblique issue and manager Alex Cora said that the team could “speed up” Masataka Yoshida’s rehab process from a shoulder injury after dealing Devers to San Francisco.
With two bats returning to the lineup, Anthony hasn’t done much to validate his spot at the major league level. Like Campbell, a demotion would be a gut punch to Red Sox fans who have had a tough week. But Breslow hasn’t been shy about moving on from things that aren’t working and it could send Anthony back to Worcester with a goal of getting back to the major leagues.