Kristian Campbell refutes report Rafael Devers was ‘upset’ about rookie potentially playing 1B for Red Sox
“Yeah, that was false. First off, Raffy never came to me.”
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The baseball world was stunned when the Red Sox dealt Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants.
The main storyline became evident: Boston and Devers were not seeing eye to eye behind the scenes.
However, several side stories arose after the trade, too.
One being a report from Yahoo! Sports’ Joon Lee involving rookie Kristian Campbell and Devers.
“According to multiple sources, Devers was also upset when the rookie Campbell volunteered to play first base this season — interpreting it as a slight to his own stature,” Lee wrote Monday.
Beginning in mid-May, Campbell, who has played center field and second base for the Red Sox, was working out at first base. He was seen pregame on May 16 learning the position following Triston Casas’s season-ending knee injury on May 2.
At the time, it was unclear if Campbell offered to play 1B or if the team asked him to begin learning. Manager Alex Cora had plans to start him at the position for the first time against the Atlanta Braves at the end of May and beginning of June.
Lee reported that Campbell “volunteered” himself in the aftermath of Casas’s ailment, but Campbell refuted that Friday.
“Yeah, that was false,” he said from the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox’ dugout. Campbell was demoted to Triple-A Thursday. “First off, Raffy never came to me. Never had a problem with it. We were always cool. He’s an extremely great player, extremely great person. He’s a very kind person and a good teammate.
“Second, I would say I never went to the Red Sox to play first base. They came to me and asked me if I could play first base because we didn’t have one at the time. That’s when Casas went down. I said I would do it because it would make the team better, and I would be willing to learn a position. That’s basically how it went down.”
Cora similarly shut down the report Tuesday.
“No, Kristian Campbell didn’t ask to play first base,” he said. “I had talked to him about it and he was willing to try it.”
“The first time I heard about (the report) was this morning,” Cora continued.
Campbell resumed working out at first base in Worcester Friday – a sign Boston could play him there when he returns to the big leagues.
If Campbell indeed takes over at first base down the road, that could pave the way for fellow rookie Marcelo Mayer to move from third base to second. It would also allow Alex Bregman to reclaim third when he returns from the injured list.
Campbell has previously expressed a willingness to play anywhere the Red Sox ask him to.
“Whatever makes the team better, that’s the position I play,” he told The Boston Globe‘s Alex Speier last month. “I’m used to second base, because that’s what I played in college. But whatever makes the team better at the time.”
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