Every once in a while, I’ll have someone in the organization excitedly reach out to me about a young prospect on the rise. It’s always someone far down.
A perfect example right now is Sadbiel Delzine. The right-handed pitcher just made his Single-A debut, and immediately someone reached out to me to gush over him and give me some details about the 18-year-old and what they’re working on.
It happens when someone in the organization is feeling particularly strong about a player, and they seem to need to get their excitement out. Unsurprisingly, it’s almost exclusively about the young 18-19-20-ish-year-olds.
However, there is a player who I’ve had multiple people reach out to me about a lot recently: Kristian Campbell. The excitement is there again. For Campbell, this is something that has translated onto the field. The right-handed-hitting outfielder looked solid to start the season, but hit a serious extended rough patch.
Campbell hit his lowest point in the 2026 season on June 24. He finished the day with a .618 OPS. The upward trend began from there.
On July 27, Campbell holds a .239/.373/.336 slash line. Sure, a .709 OPS isn’t anything to throw a parade over, but a nearly .100-point jump in barely a month is impressive. He’s slashing .364/.509/.591 with four doubles and two home runs in the month. Campbell’s driven in nine runs, scored 12, and stolen two bases. He’s walked 11 times and struck out 12.
To put it bluntly, we’re getting something much closer to that top prospect version of Campbell once again. Yes, it’s only been for a few weeks, but the point still stands. The question is: can he sustain this level of production?
What should Red Sox fans make of Kristian Campbell’s current hot stretch?
There will be understandable skepticism. We’ve seen Campbell get hot before, even in the majors. Sometimes he’ll be hitting the hell out of the ball but will get unlucky and produce a lot of outs. Other times, he’ll be producing a lot of low exit velocities or burying the ball into the ground, but get bailed out with some unexpected balls dropping in for hits.
However, Campbell has made notable adjustments. There seems to be much less movement in his swing — his hips don’t seem as wide. It’s still violent, but it’s more compact.
Something very important that fans need to remember is that the Red Sox wanted to rework Campbell’s swing. Having massive struggles shouldn’t have come as a surprise. That’s a massive change to have to work through.
Campbell was going for a complete reinvention, though. The changes have been noticeable, and they have stuck around for a few weeks. They’ve made an impact, and he’s getting wide praise from those within the organization. It took some time, but it looks like Campbell’s turned a corner with his new swing and his new approach. There will likely still be a few bumps in the road, but it feels safe to say that the lowest of lows is behind us.
So what should you make of Campbell's current hot stretch? Feel free to be skeptical. Red Sox fans feel they have been burned before. But let's not pretend like prospects haven't shown out recently (Ceddanne Rafaela, Payton Tolle, Connelly Early, Jake Bennett, etc.). This narrative that the top prospects have all flopped is tired. Plenty have been incredible contributors.
At the same time, plenty of prospects not on the Red Sox have struggled to find their footing at first, but have figured it out a year or two down the line. Look at Curtis Mead. Jordan Walker is a perfect example. Pete Crow-Armstrong is an MVP-favorite with the Chicago Cubs right now. Jose Bautista was not good for a few years, and Jo Adell nearly ran himself out of the league. Everyone suddenly wants to desperately trade for CJ Abrams when they swore he was a bust for years. Spencer Torkelson hits 30 bombs now. Max Muncy got DFA’d by the A’s when they were miserable.
The list of examples is endless. Giving up on a 24-year-old because he struggled for a season is laughable.
With that in mind, feel free to believe. That top prospect is still in there somewhere. He’s fighting to come out and play again.
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