BOSTON — Kristian Campbell’s fit with the 2026 Boston Red Sox is unclear.
The Red Sox think his athleticism plays best in the outfield. But with how the roster is constructed right now, there’s not much playing time there. Boston certainly still might trade an outfielder before Opening Day, but the outfield is crowded with Jarren Duran, Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela.
One interesting scenario is Campbell taking over Rob Refsnyder’s role — but would that provide him enough playing time? The right-handed hitting Refsnyder, who signed with the Mariners in free agency, made starts in the outfield and at DH vs. left-handed starters.
At 23 and still developing offensively and defensively, the Red Sox might rather Campbell play against both left-handed and right-handed starters every day at Triple-A Worcester than fill a smaller role in Boston.
The Red Sox view Campbell long-term as an outfielder as they think his athleticism plays best out there. His defense at second base was not good last year. He had minus-16 runs saved in 471 ⅔ innings. But the Red Sox’ roster leans heavily left-handed and could use Campbell’s right-handed bat.
More playing time can be had if he’s used in a super utility role playing occasionally at second base in addition to outfield and DH like Refsnyder did.
That said, starts at DH might not be there as much as they were for Refsnyder. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has talked about rotating his four outfielders through that spot.
Manager Alex Cora also has to find some at-bats for Masataka Yoshida, who the Red Sox have preferred to stay away from in the outfield. He made just five starts in the outfield when he returned from his injury last year.
Breslow was asked about the candidates to replace Refsnyder and if Campbell is one or he’d rather Campbell playing every day whether in Boston or Worcester. Breslow mentioned Nate Eaton, a right-handed hitter, who certainly has a chance to slide into Refsnyder’s role against lefties.
“It’s premature at this point to say, ‘Hey, this is the guy who’s going to do that,’” Breslow said. “Ref played a really prominent role both on the field in terms of his production vs. left-handed pitching and also as a leader in the clubhouse. I don’t want to say, ‘Hey, we’ll replace Ref with this player.’ But I think Kristian is a guy that we’re going to give a look to in the outfield. Nate Eaton is a guy who came up and did a really nice job for us.
“While a lot has been made about our outfield depth, it’s also a strength of this team,” Breslow added. “And making sure that we preserve that strength both offensively and the ability to go run down anything that is hit in the air that stays in the yard is something we’re mindful of. So we need to make sure we don’t take a step backward defensively in favor of trying to chase offense.”
Breslow called the identity of the 2026 Red Sox “pitching” and “ability to prevent runs.”
For Campbell to be in a potential super utility role where he’s playing a lot just at different positions, it’s clear he needs to show he can play better defense than he did last year.