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New York Times
04-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Kristian Campbell and the conversation with Trevor Story that turned around his spring
Halfway through this spring, Boston Red Sox top infield prospect Kristian Campbell was struggling. He'd had a lot thrown at him early in camp, entering the spring as the leading candidate to win the starting second base job despite being drafted just 20 months prior. Over lunch one day at JetBlue Park, Campbell turned to the man who now catches his feeds on double plays, and veteran shortstop Trevor Story gave him advice that helped Campbell turn around his spring. Advertisement 'I just reminded him, just be yourself, that's all he wanted to do,' Story said. 'The conversation was mainly about just him going out there and letting it rip. Like if you need to go out there and waggle your bat, do it. You don't need to try to be anyone else or try to fit into this team or do anything other than just be yourself.' The 22-year-old Campbell was coming off a whirlwind 2024, in which he'd rocketed through three minor-league levels, finishing in Triple A. He was named The Athletic's Prospect of the Year and Baseball America's Minor Leaguer of the Year. He entered the 2025 season as The Athletic's No. 9 prospect in baseball despite not being a top-30 prospect in the Red Sox system to start 2024. And yet for a majority of his first big-league camp, Campbell struggled. He went hitless in his first five games, going 0-for-12 with eight strikeouts, before finally knocking a single to right on March 3. Even after that, the hits were few and far between. As the weeks ticked by, the Red Sox braintrust started to wonder whether it should thrust Campbell into the big-league spotlight on Opening Day. Should Alex Bregman shift to second instead? Was David Hamilton a safer option at the spot? 'We had conversations about (Campbell), like, 'What should we do?'' manager Alex Cora said recently. It's not uncommon for young players in their first big-league camp to need time to adapt, but time was running short and the Red Sox needed to make a decision. 'If you go to YouTube, like I did in January, there's a Kristian Campbell highlight reel,' Cora said. 'Every home run on fastballs were straight center or right-center; every home run to pull-side was soft stuff in the zone. During spring training, I'm like, where is this? Is this just a highlight reel or is this who he is?' Advertisement Spring struggles were nothing new for Campbell, who started slowly in 2024 before his breakout season, in which he hit .330 with a .997 OPS in 115 games, finishing the year in Triple-A. 'Nobody was watching (last year), so nobody knew I was struggling on the back fields,' he said. The struggles this spring were highly visible, however. Through his first 30 at-bats, he collected just four singles and a double, striking out 13 times. Having battled timing issues in the spring before, Campbell remained confident he would find his swing, but he was still frustrated by not producing results with an Opening Day spot on the line. He needed to show he was ready for any everyday job in the majors. Compounding his issues at the plate was the time he was spending focusing on his defense. He was flipping between second base and the outfield, as he'd done in 2024, with his defensive versatility another asset the Red Sox coveted. Every day, Campbell was part of a defensive clinic on the back fields. Cora, a former infielder, joined infield instructor Jose Flores, as well as Bregman and Story, to give Campbell pointers on refining his mechanics, receiving the ball smoother and turning double plays quicker. Campbell was making incremental progress, but he was trying to implement a lot in a short amount of time. Looming in the background of all of this were contract negotiations with the Red Sox front office. Finally, midway through camp after another frustrating day, Campbell found himself in the lunchroom at JetBlue Park with Story and decided to pick the veteran's brain. 'I just asked him what he did his first major-league spring training,' Campbell recalled. 'I definitely put too much pressure on myself in the beginning. It was a combination of pressure and finding my rhythm. 'Trying to find it all together is tough sometimes, that's what camp is for, he was saying, to get your rhythm and timing,' Campbell said. 'I just asked him his experiences, if he ever had a tough camp before or like what he's done in the past to get out of a tough break.' Advertisement Getting perspective from a player like Story helped Campbell. 'He wanted to feel like he'd earned the job,' Story said. 'He was like, man, I know what I can do, it's not showing up. We talked about there's no room for hesitation in this game. You got to go out there and be your full self and let it rip the way you know how.' Campbell laying out to make the play! — Red Sox Player Development (@RedSoxPlayerDev) March 17, 2025 Around the same time as his conversation with Story, Campbell participated in the Spring Breakout showcase game with Boston's other top prospects, Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony. It was a loose atmosphere, outside the pressures of big-league camp. On a 1-0 pitch in the third inning, Campbell hammered a ball to right-center that went over the wall, breaking a scoreless tie. Campbell's Spring Breakout homer didn't count toward his official spring stats, but it marked his first homer of the spring and he finally felt the swing he knew coming back. 'Hitting that home run was like, 'OK, perfect, I'm back in my alley,'' Campbell said. 'And then it kind of went from there, finding rhythm and finding what I wanted to do with my swing, finding that feel over and over and over again.' After weeks of repetitions at the plate and in the field coupled with the conversation with Story, Campbell started to relax. That in turn helped him produce. Over the final week of camp, he started to play with more freedom like Story had suggested. He not only was taking better at-bats, but he started making eye-popping, diving plays in the infield and throwing runners out from the outfield. He worried less about overdoing it as a rookie. That's not getting by KC! — Red Sox Player Development (@RedSoxPlayerDev) March 22, 2025 'I'm not saying (our conversation) is what turned him around or got him going,' Story said. 'I think for him that resonated with him. You could see a little bit of a different fire after. He was diving, making amazing plays, having good at-bats, feeling like he was competing like himself out there.' Advertisement The penultimate day of camp was when Cora finally saw the hitter he'd watched in the YouTube clips. The Red Sox were facing the Rays in Port Charlotte, Fla., at the same park where the Spring Breakout game had taken place. In his second at-bat against All-Star pitcher Shane McClanahan, Campbell fell behind in the count with two strikes, but he managed to line out at 107 mph to center field. 'That's who he is,' Cora said. 'He's a hitter that controls the strike zone, makes good swing decisions, and he drives the ball hard to right-center.' Two at-bats later, Campbell crushed his first homer in big-league camp. 'I was like, there it is, you're behind in the count, you're seeing the baseball and you hammered the ball to center,' hitting coach Pete Fatse said. 'That's your line. Now we can work off of something.' Oppo for Campbell! — Red Sox Player Development (@RedSoxPlayerDev) March 22, 2025 Campbell always maintained confidence he'd find his footing and knew it was a matter of time. All of that has been validated over the first seven games of the season. He's gone 10-for-24 (.417) with four doubles, two homers, four walks and five strikeouts, and in the process he signed an eight-year, $60 million contact extension. On Opening Day in Texas, Campbell reflected on how far he'd come, not just over the course of the spring, but over the past two decades. 'It's not really about the last six weeks,' he said of making his big-league debut. 'It's more about the last 15 years.' Campbell always had the talent inside of him, but his conversation with Story brought it to the surface. 'You still got to go out there and do the thing,' Campbell said. 'But being able to open up and talk to someone about it definitely helps a lot.' (Photo of Kristian Campbell: Greg Fiume / Getty Images)
New York Times
02-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Red Sox, Kristian Campbell agree to 8-year, $60 million contract: Source
One day after the Boston Red Sox announced a contract extension for starter Garrett Crochet, the team locked up another member of its young core. On Wednesday, the Red Sox finalized an eight-year, $60 million deal for infielder/outfielder Kristian Campbell, according to a team source. The deal runs through 2032 with options for 2033 and 2034. Campbell's deal includes a $2 million signing bonus with club options of $19 million in 2033 — with a $4 million buyout — and $21 million in 2034. The remainder of the contract breakdowns as follows: The 22-year-old who debuted last on Opening Day has hit .375 (6-for-16) with two doubles and a homer through his first five games with four starts at second base and one in left field. At 22 years, 272 days old on Opening Day, he was the youngest Red Sox player to debut on Opening Day since Joe Lahoud in 1968 (20 years, 363 days). Advertisement Campbell, a 2023 fourth-rounder, rocketed through the Red Sox system last season, hitting .330 with a .997 OPS in 115 games at High A, Double A and Triple A and was named Baseball America's Minor Leaguer of the Year as well as The Athletic's Prospect of the Year. Campbell's 2031 and 2032 base salaries and the 2033 club option and 2034 club option base salaries can increase based on the following criteria: $2 million for MVP winner; $1 million for second or third place MVP; $500,000 for fourth or five place MVP, $250, 000 for sixth through 10th; $200,000 for All-Star election/selection. While Campbell's deal comes with just five days of big league service time, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has a history of signing players early in their careers. The Red Sox signed infielder/outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela to an eight-year, $50 million at the start of 2024 after just 28 games played. Starter Brayan Bello signed a six-year, $50 million deal at the start of 2024 after just two seasons in the majors. With top prospects Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer yet to debut, the Red Sox have said they're pursuing contract extensions for both players as well.
New York Times
24-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Top prospect Kristian Campbell to make Red Sox Opening Day roster
The Red Sox informed Kristian Campbell on Sunday night that he would be on the roster when the team breaks camp. One of Boston's top prospects has made the Opening Day roster. Campbell, who can play several positions, is expected to get regular playing time at second base. At the outset of camp, the 22-year-old was viewed as a favorite to win the second base job but struggled to find consistency early in the spring, going 0-for-11 with eight strikeouts and having a less balanced approach at the plate than last year when he made a dramatic jump through the team's farm system. Advertisement In 115 games across three levels last season, Campbell hit .330 with a .997 OPS and 20 homers, playing his final 19 games of the year in Triple-A Worcester after a late-August call up. But spring training numbers being poor indicators of in-season success, the Red Sox kept playing Campbell and by the final few weeks of camp, he started to show signs he was the prospect who won Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year and The Athletic's Prospect of the Year. The Athletic's Keith Law ranks Campbell the No. 9 prospect in all of baseball. Manager Alex Cora didn't hide that early in camp Campbell had struggled, but he and the coaching staff gave him near constant instruction in the infield on drills and with footwork. About two weeks ago, Campbell fell into a better rhythm, seeming more comfortable at the plate and particularly in the field making diving plays, turning double plays more smoothly and making more natural feeds. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told it wasn't a single play that turned the switch for Campbell, but the Red Sox started to see more consistency out of him, giving them confidence he was ready for the next challenge in the majors. When Campbell played in the Spring Breakout Game in mid March, he belted a long home run and seemed to snap out of his early camp slump. By appearing on the Opening Day roster, Campbell will make the Red Sox eligible for the Prospect Promotion Incentive, which is meant to deter teams from holding back prospects in order to accrue an extra year of service time. The rule stipulates a team can earn an extra draft pick after the first round if an eligible player accrues one year of service time as a rookie and either wins Rookie of the Year or places in the top three for MVP or the Cy Young Award. Players with little or no service time like Campbell need to break camp with the club or be called up within the first two weeks of the season (players need to accrue 172 days of service time by the end of the year) to qualify. Advertisement Gunnar Henderson and Corbin Carroll earned their teams extra picks in the 2024 MLB Draft, as both were promoted at the start of the 2023 season and won their respective league Rookie of the Year awards. At this point, Boston's other top prospects, Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony, are expected to begin their seasons in Triple A, but might not be too far behind Campbell. Campbell is currently with the team in Mexico while they play two exhibition games before the season begins in Texas on Thursday. (Photo of Campbell: Danielle Parhizkaran / The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
