Alex Cora seems to know he messed up.

The Boston Red Sox have been through a lot of turmoil early in the 2025 season, and it’s gotten in the way of some of their best-laid plans. Most notably, rookies Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer have been asked to bite off more than they can realistically be expected to chew.

Mayer was only called up late last week, but he’s already been asked to start at a position he rarely played in the minors (third base) and bat in the cleanup spot once. But Campbell has been thrown into a much hotter fire.

After a fantastic first month in the big leagues, Campbell was thrust into cleanup duties frequently once Triston Casas, the team’s slugging first baseman, suffered a season-ending injury. Plus, the Red Sox have asked Campbell to learn the first base position on the fly, with his in-game debut likely to come this weekend in Atlanta.

Cora, Campbell’s skipper, reflected on the tough tasks he’s given Campbell of late, which have likely contributed to his massive May slump.

“Was it too much on his plate?” Cora said, per Sean McAdam of MassLive. “Maybe. But where we were at the time, we needed that. We tried to put all the good at-bats together and it didn’t happen.”

So far this month, Campbell is slashing .120/.175/.160 in 80 plate appearances. Some of that is pitchers adjusting to the perceived holes in his swing, but one has to imagine that being constantly shifted around has made it difficult for Campbell to find his groove.

Plus, there’s the expectation that the Red Sox are supposed to compete for the playoffs, which puts much more pressure on a rookie than it would on a rebuilding team, or even a contending team where the veterans were performing better.

“We’re living in a different world now,” Cora said. “They’ve got a lot to deal with, between our expectations, the fan base’s expectations, and even expectations from their families. That’s something people don’t think about. Most of these guys, they’ve been ‘dudes’ throughout their careers and they’ve never been through struggles.”

Campbell can still be a great major league player. But Cora and the Red Sox need to help him find some comfort in a routine soon, before his struggles keep spiraling.

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