Red Sox’s Kristian Campbell Inadvertently Helped By Kyle Schwarber

The Boston Red Sox have recently started to at least lay the groundwork for a big change.

Kristian Campbell has started taking grounders at first base as the club tries to replace Triston Casas. We’ll see what happens, but this isn’t the first time Boston has tried to teach a player first base on the fly.

It hasn’t always worked, but that could end up helping the young slugger for Boston in a way. Boston has seen things not work well and so if it wants to get Campbell up to speed, it’s good to learn from past failures.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora talked about the transitions of the last few years, including now Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber, as transcribed by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

"We’ve been through this dance before," Cora said. "We did it with Kyle (Schwarber). He got hurt right away in Detroit, on his first day of taking ground balls. (Christian) Arroyo, playing in New York, first play, he stretched and got hurt. Franchy (Cordero), we moved him to first, it wasn’t great.

"We’ve just got to be patient with the process. Whenever we decide he can handle the position, we’ll put him there. If we don’t believe he can handle it, we’ll stay the course."

First base is a spot that hasn't been kind to Boston in recent years. Casas has seemed like the long-term answer, but this is the second year in a row he will miss significant time. Going back even further, the Red Sox have tried to piece things together. Schwarter was a perfect example. He was an exciting pickup in 2021 and already had 25 homers when he got to town in 72 games. An injuries immediately slowed him down and he hit just seven the rest of the way. He was beloved in Boston, but the transition wasn't smooth.

Hopefully, that can help Boston as it tries to teach Campbell now.