On Thursday, Red Sox manager Alex Cora made his weekly visit with WEEI Afternoons, facing a ton of questions surrounding the state of his baseball team as they sit at 27-31 heading into the final weekend in May.
In the midst of a five-game losing streak, something has to change for Boston.
And according to Cora, it sounds like at least one change is on tap for Sunday.
“I gotta ask the obligatory first base question,” said WEEI’s Ted Johnson, who has consistently asked Cora about his team’s on-going search for a solution at first base with Triston Casas going down for the season with a left patellar tendon rupture on May 2.
“You suggested a couple days ago that maybe Kristian Campbell will maybe see some playing time at first base against this Atlanta series. Any more thoughts on that? Do you see him playing sooner rather than later at first?”
“Yeah, there's a good chance he's going to play Sunday at first base,” said Cora. “You know, he looks - in practice, obviously - he looks more comfortable going to his right, to his left. We've been talking about decision making. And as you guys know, it's not that easy, right?
“You saw it yesterday, you know? [Nick Sogard] has played first base most of the season. There was a ground ball to his right that he went far, right? And it was a routine groundball to the second baseman, he tried to make the play. Obviously, [Justin] Slaten didn't cover, he was late, and they got men at first and third. So we understand what we’re trying to accomplish here, and we know that there's going to be some mistakes. But we're going to take our chances, you know? And he feels better at it, and there's a good chance it's gonna be Sunday.”
For the last few weeks, Campbell has been seen practicing at first base before games on the field at Fenway Park, with the rookie fielding grounders directly from his manager over Memorial Day Weekend.
When Cora and other coaches have been asked previously about a timeline for his 22-year-old infielder/outfielder to make his debut at first, the company line has been that it will “take time,” with some in the media interpreting that to mean as late as after the All-Star break.
There’s been a segment of both the local media and fanbase who have wondered if cross-training the rookie at yet another position would hurt his ability to focus on evolving as a big league hitter, pointing to the massive slump he has been in since the start of May after winning American League Rookie of the Month in April.
His batting average has dropped to .225, with an on base percentage of .315 and a slugging percentage of .354. If WAR is your thing, he’s now down to a -0.2 on the season.
Despite this, the Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow believe Campbell has the mental makeup to handle this extra homework, and we’ll be seeing if those pregame grounders have helped bring him up to speed enough to handle the flow of a big league game at a corner infield spot sooner rather than later.
Keep an eye on the lineup card for Sunday in Atlanta (25-28).
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