The Red Sox have been forced to shuffle the roster because of injuries, but their latest move still left a pretty obvious question hanging over Boston: why not Kristian Campbell?
With pitchers going down and Masataka Yoshida joining the list of absences, the Red Sox turned to Mickey Gasper. He made the most of the opportunity right away, launching his first MLB home run and driving in two runs. Even so, Boston had another option sitting in Worcester who has been heating up in a big way.
That option is Campbell, a former member of the Big Three whose season has taken a strange turn. He opened 2025 looking like one of the team’s best hitters and the kind of player who could become a long-term building block.
Boston believed enough in that early surge to hand him an eight-year, $60 million extension. But the production cratered, and after he hit .223/.319/.345/.664 with 10 doubles, six home runs and 21 RBI in 67 games, the Red Sox sent him back to Triple-A.
Since then, Campbell has started to find his swing again.
From July 2 on, he’s posted a .363/.473/.560/1.033 line and has become a real force in Worcester’s lineup. Those numbers have helped push his season line to .253/.381/.361/.742 with 20 doubles, five home runs and 40 RBI in 95 games.
That’s why the decision not to bring him up for this brief stretch while Yoshida was out stands out so much. Boston needed offense, and Campbell has been one of the hottest bats in the organization.
His future with the Red Sox is still murky. Because of the size of his contract, moving him in a trade would be difficult unless he keeps producing at this level. For now, the likeliest outcome is that he stays in Triple-A through the rest of the season unless injuries create another opening in the outfield, where he’s settled in this year.
Long term, Boston already has rental outfielders for depth in Jahmai Jones and Eli White, which could open a lane for Campbell next season as a fourth or fifth outfielder. If he keeps hitting like this, the path back to the majors should come sooner rather than later.
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