Kristian Campbell's 2025 season was a tale of two (uneven) halves. He was dominant in April, slashing .301/.407/.495 with a 148 wRC+ after making his MLB debut.
He unfortunately fell off after that, batting .159/.243/.222 (29 wRC+) in 140 plate appearances from May 1 until his demotion in mid-June. He never returned to the majors after that, struggling to get his swing going again in Triple-A.
That reality is what the Red Sox are facing heading into the offseason. Having signed an eight-year, $60 million extension (worth up to $100 million with team options), Campbell is a key piece of Boston's future, for better or worse. He's got the bat to make a serious impact in the big leagues, but there's plenty of concerns about his consistency and fielding after the 2025 season.
Add it all up, and you have a concerning situation developing, especially when you factor in Craig Breslow's recent comments on the 23-year-old's role with the organization.
Craig Breslow on Kristian Campbell in 2026: "I don't think it makes a ton of sense to try to pin him to a role outside of saying he's going to feel the support of the entire organization. And we know what he’s capable of."
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) October 6, 2025
You don't need to do too much reading between the lines there. Campbell has clearly fallen out of favor in Boston, and the former top prospect will have to work hard over the offseason to regain some faith from the front office and coaching staff.
Kristian Campbell's struggles at the plate, in the field have led to murky future with Red Sox
That Campbell hit .273/.382/.417 after his demotion is hardly cause for too much concern, given the fact that he played just 19 games in Worcester last year before cracking the Opening Day roster in Boston.
What is frustrating is that his bat slid backward in conjunction with his horrendous glove play. To recap: 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).
More than likely Kristian Campbell’s time at First Base is going to be reduced moving forward according to Senior Director of Player Development Brian Abraham on @ThePeskyReport:
— Matthew Crory (@matthewcrory) September 9, 2025
“First base was an immediate trial to see if that could work. That probably will end up not being… pic.twitter.com/oLMgU7wPFU
It's one thing for a capable defender to have swoons at the plate. For a guy who was the worst defensive second baseman in baseball this year, that's a real issue.
Unfortunately, Campbell doesn't have a real defensive home with the team outside of second. Trevor Story is entrenched at shortstop, Marcelo Mayer or Alex Bregman will handle the hot corner for the foreseeable future, the franchise has already said they won't stick Campbell at first base, and the outfield logjam is complicated enough as it is.
Hence, it's not hard to see why Breslow refused to talk about Campbell's role moving forward. He could be a designated hitter, but wasting that spot on an athletic 23-year-old is antithetical to Alex Cora's modus operandi, and Campbell would need to improve dramatically with the bat to justify holding down that fort.
As such, the future here is incredibly foggy. There's no reason to give up on the wildly talented youngster just yet, but Campbell has a long way to go to live up to his contract.