Campbell got some advice from the manager.
Top Boston Red Sox prospect Kristian Campbell came into spring training lauded for his exceptional bat-to-ball skills.
The Red Sox hadn’t really seen it net results in game action until Monday, though.
It took until Campbell’s 13th at-bat of the spring to log his first hit as he finished 1-for-3 in a 6-6 tie against the Baltimore Orioles. The 22-year-old is now 1-for-14 (.071) during his first big-league spring training.
It’s far from an ideal start for Campbell, who is fighting for an Opening Day roster spot at second base, but got the start in left field against the Orioles. But Campbell still has more than three weeks to make his case to be with the Red Sox in Texas on March 27, and he received some advice from Red Sox manager Alex Cora on how he can turn things around at the plate.
“He’s been working hard. He’s been grinding. I think the good thing is we have a pretty good idea of what he needs (to do),” Cora told reporters, per MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “We talked to him, and he said, ‘Just got to swing.’ (We were like), ‘No, it’s the other way around. You’ve got to swing less.’ He’s been swinging a lot, as far as the games. He’s been chasing. The 0-for-4 in (Clearwater), the last two strikeouts were pitches off the plate and he doesn’t do that. Just dominate the strike zone and put some good swings.”
Campbell, who is ranked as the second-best prospect in Boston’s farm system, only behind Roman Anthony, grounded out to third on the first pitch he saw against veteran right-hander Charlie Morton in his first at-bat Monday. When Campbell got his next at-bat in the top of the fourth inning, he swung at the first pitch again — this time coming from Tomoyuki Sugano — but it yielded a different result.
This time, Campbell made solid contact to lace a single to right field. It had to bring a sigh of relief to Campbell, who struck out in the final at-bat of his outing, to finally get the hit he was after.
But given the expression on his face once he got to first base, the hit brought him joy, too.
“It was good to see him smile,” Cora said.