The Boston Red Sox are ready to get creative with their infield defense in the wake of first baseman Triston Casas' season-ending injury.
Kristian Campbell is set to make his first career start at first base this weekend when the Red Sox visit the Atlanta Braves, manager Alex Cora confirmed Wednesday. The rookie second baseman has spent the last two weeks learning to play the position.
Romy Gonzalez, Abraham Toro, and Nick Sogard have split time at first base since Casas' injury. Gonzalez was placed on the injured list with a quad contusion less than a week after Casas went down, leaving Boston even more short-handed.
With our All Access Daily newsletter, stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams!
SIGN UP HERE Campbell has showcased his versatility by playing the outfield in addition to second base, but the 22-year-old has never played first in his professional career. Nonetheless, after watching Campbell work out at first over the last two weeks, Cora believes he's ready to try it out in a game.
“He’s (improved),” Cora said of Campbell before Wednesday's series finale in Milwaukee. “We talked a few days ago and he said, ‘I feel confident.’ I went out there twice and the way he moves, he’s going to make the routine plays. We’re going to see mistakes — where you have to go on the relays and stuff like that."
“But we’ll probably have someone in the dugout being on top of him the whole game and (Campbell) pays attention to him. Having someone (guiding) him the whole game, from the dugout. ‘Make sure you’re doing this,’ and that. We’ll walk him through it.”
MORE RED SOX
For now, moving Campbell to first base is more of an experiment than a long-term solution. Cora noted that Campbell will be used at first "little by little" until he is more comfortable with the position.
It's a challenging time for Campbell, who has struggled mightily at the plate while learning to play first base. After a red-hot start to his MLB career, he has cooled off considerably with a .120 batting average and .325 OPS so far in May.
It's unclear which game Campbell will play first base in Atlanta. The three-game series begins Friday night, with Games 2 and 3 scheduled for Saturday and Sunday afternoon.