If Not First Base, Where Will Kristian Campbell's Home be in Boston?

I still believe in Kristian Campbell's bat, and I encourage you to have faith as well. I know things got really, really ugly for a while there -- he slashed .159/.243/.222 (29 wRC+) in 140 plate appearances from May 1 until his demotion in mid-June -- but let's not forget that this is a rookie who had one of the hottest months in baseball this season (.301/.407/.495, 148 wRC+ in April) when he first cracked the major league roster. I'd also be remiss not to remind you that Campbell is just 23 years old and began the 2024 season in High-A Greenville. He had a meteoric ascension to the big leagues; a setback against the best pitchers in the world shouldn't dissuade anyone from buying his long-term potential.

But, even if the Red Sox are losing faith in his most prodigious skill, he's not going anywhere. He signed a lucrative eight-year extension back in April, worth $60 million at minimum and as much as $100 million if the team picks up both option years at the end of the contract. That's an investment you can't just sweep under the rug, especially with how purposeful the Red Sox have been with spending money recently. Every dollar on the books matters, and the team's decision to eschew Campbell's cheap years of team control for a sturdy salary reflects a commitment to him and his development, struggles or not.

So, that leaves us with a question that seemingly has no right answer: Where will Kristian Campbell play in Boston going forward?

Let's put something out there right upfront: Kristian Campbell was awful at second base with the Red Sox this season. He made seven errors in less than 500 innings at the keystone while he was in the big leagues, "earning" -15 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), -8 Outs Above Average (OAA), and -9 Fielding Run Value (FRV). These stats aren't perfect for "pace analysis" in the same way that home runs or stolen bases are, but extrapolate those numbers over a full season (roughly two-and-a-half times as many innings as Campbell played at second), and you get a player worth -37 DRS, -20 OAA, and -22 FRV. I mean, holy moly. That's how bad Campbell was in the field for the Red Sox this season (and that's not including his below-average time in the outfield). And yes, to answer your biggest question, those would all be the worst marks in baseball this season.

Defenders can absolutely improve over time -- Nathaniel Lowe was worth -10 OAA the year before he won his Gold Glove in 2023 -- but it's not the same kind of growth as hitting. Plate approaches are so fickle, and there's so many moving parts to them; any given change could be the thing that fixes or breaks a player's swing and turns them into (or reverts them from being) an All-Star. Fielding is a different beast. You can learn the ins and outs of a position, get more athletic, develop a stronger throwing arm, or just plain get better with more repetitions, but the truth with fielding is that you can either handle a certain position, or you can't.

Campbell certainly has the athleticism to stick at second base (he even drew some innings at shortstop and third base last year), but the results are what they are. If the goal is to have him back in the major leagues by Opening Day 2026, then sticking him at a position where he's actively negating a ton of his offensive value isn't going to help Campbell or the team.

Over the last few months, the answer to the "Campbell Position Conundrum" (the "CPC", if you will) has been first base. He's been getting a ton of reps in Triple-A Worcester at the position, and there were many who were calling for him to handle the cold corner in Boston before Lowe was brought in after a disappointing trade deadline. However, that spot has never been the best use of his athleticism, and Senior Director of Player Development Brian Abraham all but confirmed that it won't Campbell's long-term defensive home going forward.

“First base was an immediate trial to see if that could work," Abraham told the Pesky Report. "That probably will end up not being as much of a focus going forward. I see him being more of a 2B/OF type opportunity."

Whatever the reason may be -- the team anticipates Triston Casas being fully healthy, or they expect to re-sign Nathaniel Lowe, or they want to keep the position open for a competition in spring training -- this is the right call for Campbell's future. To be a first baseman in the majors, you have to hit. Campbell can certainly offer that kind of production, but that's a lot of pressure on a guy who lost all semblance of his confidence at the plate before being demoted back to Triple-A.

The smoothest fit is obviously second base. That would allow Marcelo Mayer to take over the hot corner for Alex Bregman (assuming he leaves in free agency), or it could push Mayer into a super-utility role where his excellent glove could benefit a multitude of positions (if Bregman sticks around). We've already acknowledged how disastrous Campbell was there, though, and unless he makes marked improvements over the offseason, it's hard to imagine the coaching staff willingly subjecting him to a position he can't play competently.

That leaves the outfield, which Abraham made sure to note when discussing the CPC. In fact, Campbell is starting to get some time in right field with the WooSox, perhaps as a "break glass in case of emergency" option if Wilyer Abreu can't return from his injury before the playoffs.

The issue, of course, is that the Red Sox have an abundance of slick-fielding outfielders, from all-universe defender Ceddanne Rafaela in center to Abreu, a reigning Gold Glover, in right. If you like what Roman Anthony brings to the table in left (you should), then there's your starting outfield for the next half-decade, and that obviously fails to mention Jarren Duran, who has proven more than capable of handling each outfield spot in a pinch.

So, where does that leave Campbell? The Red Sox could stash him in a super utility role, but do you really want to keep moving him around when the primary focus is on his bat? They could task him with learning third base over the offseason if Bregman leaves, but Mayer is a wildly superior defender and has already shown off his defensive prowess at the hot corner. Shortstop is probably off the table if Trevor Story is still around, but that's probably true regardless given Campbell's struggles at second base.

Assuming the team doesn't try a Carlos Narvaez-Campell catching tandem, that only leaves one spot for the talented rookie: designated hitter. We already know that Alex Cora hates the idea of stashing one of his über-athletic youngsters in that spot, but given the layout of the team right now, it's hard to imagine where else Campbell fits if it's not first base. 

That scenario would prevent the team from using one of their four star outfielders at DH, as well as their successful Masataka Yoshida-Romy Gonzalez platoon, but that's genuinely the only spot left if second base doesn't work out. Is that something the Red Sox would be okay with?

The CPC has no obvious answer, even as the Red Sox try to throw everything at the wall to see what sticks. It feels like asking for a miracle given that the priority is patching the holes in his plate approach, but Campbell could quell a lot nerves about his long-term future if he can show up to spring training ready to play literally any position on the diamond.