Asked on May 20 to rank rookie Kristian Campbell on a scale of one to 10 in terms of his progress in learning how to play first base, Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora didn't mince words: "probably 2.5, 3." The implication was clear: While the Red Sox were desperate for help at the cold corner in the wake of Triston Casas' injury, and moving Campbell over would clear a spot for fellow top prospect Marcelo Mayer at second base, any such moves were a long way off.
Or, alternatively, less than two weeks off. Cora was singing a different tune ahead of Boston's game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, instead telling reporters that it was likely Campbell would play at least one game at first during the team's series against the Atlanta Braves this coming weekend.
“He’s like, ‘We’ll never know if I don’t play,’” Cora said, per MLB.com. “I love that he feels convicted about it, so one game in Atlanta, he’ll do it.”
Campbell's willingness to be flexible for the good of the team is admirable, and he's certainly athletic enough to make it work. But absolutely nothing about this process should make Red Sox fans feel at ease; instead, it sure seems obvious that this is a desperate move from a desperate team that has just about run out of buttons to press to fix its flailing offense.
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Red Sox' reversal on Kristian Campbell at first base shows just how desperate things have gotten
Let's be clear: There's no way that Campbell has gone from a 2.5 or a 3 to anything approaching a 10 in a matter of days. Heck, Cora himself isn't even bothering to hide the fact that Campbell isn't necessarily ready for this.
“[We’ll] probably have somebody here in the dugout just be on top of him the whole game, [someone] who pays attention to him,” Cora said. “Having somebody with him the whole game from the dugout -- make sure you’re doing this and doing that -- we’ll walk him through it.”
That doesn't sound like a player who's gotten enough reps to feel comfortable at a new position; that sounds like a team that's decided to try and build the plane while they're flying it. And in a certain sense, you can't blame them: The Red Sox and their offense have managed to find a new rock bottom over the first two games in Milwaukee, scoring a grand total of three runs over a pair of gut-punch losses. Tuesday in particular hurt, as a heroic eight innings of one-run ball from Richard Fitts and a depleted bullpen went up in smoke thanks to an Aroldis Chapman blown save and a walk-off grand slam allowed by Liam Hendriks.
It's clear that, if the Red Sox have any hope of keeping pace with the New York Yankees in the AL East, something needs to change. But with Casas done for the year and Alex Bregman out for at least a month or two, Cora's options are severely limited; top prospect Roman Anthony doesn't play the infield, after all. Moving Campbell to first is the only way to ensure that guys like Abraham Toro and Nick Sogard get as few at-bats as possible, and at this point, that's a risk the Red Sox feel is worth taking — even if it's putting a lot on a very young player's plate.