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Alex Cora reveals Boston Red Sox’ position plan for Kristian Campbell
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- Alex Cora reveals Boston Red Sox’ position plan for Kristian Campbell
FORT MYERS, Fla. — All of Kristian Campbell 's regular work with the team during spring training will be in the outfield, manager Alex Cora revealed Tuesday.
All of the 23-year-old's infield work will be done individually with infield coordinator José Flores.
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"He's going to play mostly outfield," Cora said at JetBlue Park. "But we cannot forget about the infield part of it because you never know what can happen ... All his work will be in the outfield. Individual work will be with Flo whenever. That's what we're doing."
When he does work with Flores, he'll get reps at both second base and third base.
"It's not going to be in a group setting," Cora said. "It's one-on-one, attention to detail and see how he looks."
Campbell began last season as Boston 's starting second baseman but he struggled there with minus-16 defensive runs saved in 471 ⅔ innings.
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He had zero defensive runs saved in 69 innings in the outfield. He played 57 innings in center field and 12 innings in left field.
"Last year, he made a team because we thought he was going to hit," Cora said. "He hit a little bit. And then he struggled and he knows it. And now it's just a matter of hopefully the adjustments he made and the suggestions that we gave him can translate in between the lines. In the cage, in BP, it looks great. Now we have to do it in the game."
Campbell batted .301 with a .407 on-base percentage, .495 slugging percentage and .902 OPS in 29 games (123 plate appearances) during the first month of the 2025 season. He was named AL Rookie of the Month for April .
But he then went just 20-for-126 (.159 batting average) in 38 games in May and June. The Red Sox optioned him to Triple-A Worcester on June 20. He remained with the WooSox for the rest of the season.
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The Red Sox had Campbell work on his swing mechanics during the offseason, including when he played 14 games of Winter Ball in Puerto Rico.
"If we get this (the offense) back, we can find at-bats," Cora said. "That's his tool — offense. And for a month there, we were very excited. Then the league caught up with him. It took us a while to make adjustments, but he's in a good spot now. ... It's a different setup. The mindset is still the same: Hit the ball hard."
Cora said Campbell "looks great physically." The Red Sox feel his athleticism plays best in the outfield long-term.
"Versatility is important for him and just to keep evolving as a defender," Cora said. "I think it's important. But defensive aside, we got to get this (the offense) going. That's the most important thing."
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