Alex Cora has unique plan to maximize Kristian Campbell's versatility

Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald on Apr 5, 2025

Published in Baseball

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BOSTON — Boston’s last true everyday second baseman was Dustin Pedroia, nearly a decade ago and before Alex Cora began managing the team in 2018.

The Red Sox have since endured a revolving door of infielders, including Ian Kinsler, Eduardo Nuñez, Brock Holt, José Peraza, Christian Arroyo and Bobby Dalbec, and lost too many games to count because of Infield defense, or lack thereof.

Finally, in Kristian Campbell, whose eight-year contract extension they announced on Wednesday, the Red Sox finally feel they have a true second-base successor.

A second baseman who was originally listed for left-field in Saturday’s lineup, before Cora announced that he’d be playing center instead.

However, the Red Sox don’t want to waste his versatility, so the plan is for him to play the outfield once a week. Specifically center, where he started 25 of his 137 career games in the minors.

“Right now, Kristian’s second baseman, and he’ll play the outfield probably once a week,” Cora said Saturday afternoon. “I don’t know why, during spring training, we had this crazy idea of playing him in left-field when he played center last year.”

With Ceddanne Rafaela and Campbell playing in center, Jarren Duran will spend the majority of his time in left. That was the plan last season as well, before Trevor Story’s injury forced the Red Sox to play Rafaela at shortstop 82 times.

“Watching Jarren playing left-field yesterday, I think he’s a monster out there,” Cora said. “The decision-making is different. He can make plays left and right. Yesterday that throw to second was on-point. The more he plays there, the better he’s going to be for us, and I think at the end he’s gonna play himself into being a Gold Glove left-fielder.”

Fenway Park’s unique dimensions also factored into the decision; Duran has more experience wrangling the Green Monster — or as Cora described it, “one of the weirdest left fields in the game” — than Campbell, who’s only eight games (one home game) into his major league career.

“That came into play,” Cora said. “Just thought about it yesterday after the game. … I call up KC and I say, ‘Hey man, where do you feel more comfortable, in center or left?’ He’s like, ‘Center field.’ I’m like, shoot, could’ve solved this problem a month ago, right? But that’s the beauty of communication.”

Having Campbell in the outfield ensures also playing time for fellow infielder David Hamilton.

“We cannot forget about him,” Cora said. “He’s important for us. He impacts the game like no one else in the base path. He had a great spring, and we’re gonna find at-bats for him.”