Garrett Crochet found himself in trouble early in his April 24 outing against the Seattle Mariners. With runners on second and third base in the first inning, Mitch Garver lifted a high double to Fenway Park’s center field.
The ball rang off the Green Monster and dropped down to the Boston Red Sox’s center fielder. When it hit the ground, it dribbled away from him in the direction of right field. Both runners on base scored as a result of the misplay.
Kristian Campbell took up center field for the Red Sox in their getaway game against the Mariners. Every few games, Boston fans look at the Sox’s lineup and wonder, “Why?”
The Red Sox added top prospect Campbell to the major league roster out of spring training to be their starting second baseman, the team’s most volatile position for the last half-decade. Scouts and reporters expressed during camp that Campbell’s infield defense did not look major league ready, and his bat wasn’t making up for it — he slashed .167/.305/.271 with 18 strikeouts in 20 games in the Grapefruit League.
Garver getting the job done 😤 pic.twitter.com/YlgMw2ZRI2
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 24, 2025
Campbell has been, for the most part, successful at second base, but his defense is, by no means, perfect. He’s made two errors and a few miscues that could’ve been charged to him in his first month in the big leagues, but that’s to be expected from a 22-year-old rookie.
What is not expected, though, is that the Red Sox keep moving him around the diamond despite his imperfect defense. Campbell has appeared in the outfield five times since his promotion, which contradicts the Red Sox front office’s own logic with another player.
The Red Sox have no business moving Kristian Campbell between second base and the outfield while his defense still needs work
Boston’s chief baseball officer, Craig Breslow, said over the offseason that Ceddanne Rafaela would play the vast majority of his innings in center field in 2025. He believes frequent position changes between center field and shortstop impeded Rafaela’s development at both positions (subscription required).
“I’m not sure we saw the best of him even defensively because of the fact that he was switching back and forth between center and shortstop,” Breslow said. “And so I think he’s a guy that we will try to keep in center as much as possible.”
Fenway’s outfield is hard to learn because of the Green Monster, but most Red Sox fans would be willing to bet Rafaela would’ve played Garver’s double better than Campbell did. Again, Campbell is just a 22-year-old rookie and he’s sure to make mistakes, but the Red Sox’s willingness to move him around the diamond while his defensive skills still need to be refined is confounding. Rafaela is an excellent defender, and if frequent position changes hampered his development, why is Campbell, a less-skilled defender, any different?
The Red Sox should keep Campbell in the infield until his defense is perfect, or close to it, before shuffling him around the diamond. On April 24, they and Crochet paid the price for defying their own logic.
