BOSTON — Red Sox rookie Kristian Campbell’s double in the third inning Tuesday against the Angels was just his second extra-base hit since April 29.
He had an extremely difficult May, going 11-for-82 (.134 batting average) with a .184 on-base percentage, .171 slugging percentage and .355 OPS in 22 games.
“We gotta get the offensive part of it going,” manager Alex Cora said. “We have to.”
But how?
Might Campbell benefit from some time at Triple-A Worcester to figure things out offensively? Would Boston send him there?
“We want him to get it here. That’s the most important thing,” Cora said. “We don’t rule anything out. But right now he’s gonna play here and he’s gonna get at-bats here and we’re gonna keep pushing him to be better.”
Cora moved Campbell down to ninth in the batting order Monday. The 22-year-old again is batting ninth Tuesday.
“He hasn’t played a lot and this is part of the growth of a player,“ Cora said about Campbell who has appeared in just 191 games combined between the majors and minors. ”From my end, I lived it not only as a player but also as a teammate. I have had plenty of conversations with guys like him that are getting their feet wet. And we have a great group of coaches, a front office that cares about the kid. And there’s a lot of ideas. But at the end, I also believe that you simplify things.”
Cora said simplifying things includes controlling the strike zone and taking walks. Cora pointed out that Campbell swung at a 3-1 sinker off the plate Monday.
“We have to get back to being disciplined,” Cora said. “That’s something that he’s done in his short career. Yeah, he hits the ball hard but he’s very disciplined. And up to that point, that was a great at-bat and then we swung at that pitch. So let him know that we hit the ball hard but we hit the ball hard with pitches in the zone. And be decisive. I think that’s the most important thing. I think he’s been a little bit hesitant, like in between on pitches the last few weeks.”
