Alex Cora Grades Kristian Campbell’s Impressive Start To Rookie Season

In the eyes of Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, there’s not much more Kristian Campbell could have done better in his first month in the big leagues.

The 22-year-old Campbell sure made the jump to the big leagues look like a breeze. He entered Wednesday night’s matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays slashing .313/.420/.515 to go along with a .935 OPS, four home runs, 12 RBIs and two stolen bases in 28 games.

Cora certainly is impressed by what he has seen out of Campbell, and the grade he gave the second baseman for his start to this season reflected that.

“So far man, a month in the big leagues, A+ for him,” Cora said Wednesday on WEEI, as transcribed by MassLive’s Chris Mason. “He’s been amazing.”

It wasn’t even two years ago that the Red Sox selected Campbell out of Georgia Tech in the fourth round of the MLB draft. It’s been quite the ascension since then for Campbell, climbing three levels of Boston’s farm system in 2024 and being named Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year before making the team out of spring training this year.

Cora admits that Campbell is far from a finished product. Campbell’s defense at the middle infield spot could use refinement as he has committed three errors.

But the Red Sox can live with that with the way Campbell seems to impact the game in a variety of ways on daily basis.

“It’s been fun to watch and refreshing,” Cora said. “I think being young and not knowing what’s going on, it actually helps him out. Everything is a first, right? From playing here in Toronto in Canada to playing in Arlington, (Texas) under the roof and playing in Fenway Park. So it’s a lot of new stuff for him.

“There’s a lot of teaching. A lot of player development. I think as an organization we understand that we have to stay on top of him because experience is not his. He’s only played one full season as a professional player. He didn’t play that much in college. So there’s a lot of new stuff that he’s seeing and he’s reacting to it. But man, it’s amazing.”