BOSTON — Kristian Campbell took ground balls at Fenway Park for the Red Sox for the second consecutive day before Boston’s game against the Atlanta Braves.
Alex Cora and the Red Sox have been scrambling to find the right solution to fill first base since Triston Casas suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier this month.
Following the injury to Casas, the Red Sox have cycled through three different first basemen: Romy Gonzalez (three games), Abraham Toro (four games) and Nick Sogard (five games). However, with Gonzalez on the 10-day injured list, Boston turned to their rookie to possibly fill the void.
Cora outlined the plan for Campbell to take reps at first base as the dynamic infielder learns more about the position.
Today, we’ll do something (with him at first), that’s two,” Cora said. “Tomorrow, with the day game, we won’t do that. So, maybe two, one off, two, one off; if the schedule allows it.”
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The Red Sox are in no rush to move Campbell to first base. They plan to give the 22-year-old ample time before he sees game action, if any.
“He’ll let us know, and we’ll see if we feel comfortable with it,” Cora said. “We want him to learn the position. It’s not like he will play the position. Let’s just see how comfortable we are, how comfortable he feels, and then if we make the decision he’s going to play first, we’ll live with it.”
Cora added that the team has no intention of starting to work out any other players at the position.
As Campbell works on learning the new position, it hasn’t gone unnoticed that he’s taken a slide offensively — and not in a good way.
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“KC has struggled for 50 at-bats, and we’re not talking about that, right?” Cora said. “He feels like sometimes he’s in between the breaking ball and the fastball.
“Just a kid that went off the first months of the season, and people are going to start making adjustments. So, now is our time to make adjustments. Especially as a young kid, it’s going to take longer than others. But, I truly believe the body of the bat is still there.”
Cora continued: “He’s still swinging at the right ones. He’s not chasing too many pitches. He’s swinging and missing more than we thought, but obviously, he’s still in the big leagues. We have faced some great pitching the last two and a half weeks. He’ll get it going.”
As far as Gonzalez getting close to returning to the lineup, Cora said it’s still up in the air based on how the utility player has been recuperating.
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“The thing with Romy right now, it bothers him when he slows down,” Cora explained. “He can go into a sprint, but when he slows down, it bothers him, his legs.
“(He took) live (batting practice) today, live BP against (Walker) Buehler. He feels like swing-wise, he’s in a good spot. I don’t know if it’s tomorrow, but it should be soon. I truly believe that.”
Cora confirmed Gonzalez would not have to go down to Triple-A for a rehab assignment. When he’s ready to go, it will be for Boston.
