“The way that we make decisions is pretty consistent,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said. “We look at the information that we have, and that includes certainly performance and projections and those things. But we also look at the people who know these players best. Because at the end of the day, we’re making bets on people. Roman and Kristian and Brayan [Bello] and Ceddanne [Rafaela] and Garrett [Crochet], those are people we’re willing to bet on.”
When they look at Campbell as a person and as projections, the Sox believe.
“We still are incredibly confident in the contribution that he’s going to make to this organization over the next nine or 10 years,” Breslow said. “And I think we can start to see him getting back into the form that we recognize and have come to appreciate over the last two or three weeks or so in Worcester. So still very, very confident in what he’s going to bring to this team.”
Campbell, 23, owned an OK slash line of .278/.401/.429 in 35 Triple A games entering Thursday.
However, in a 15-game banger streak that began July 19, those numbers were far better: .393/.469/.589, with three home runs, nine RBIs, and seven walks (to 12 strikeouts).
Campbell has played mostly at first base (with some second base and DH), a source of intrigue amid uncertainty at that position at the major league level over the next two months and into next year.
“There’s still work to do. He’s still a work in progress,” manager Alex Cora said last week, noting he was speaking about Campbell’s offense and defense. “So, he’s gotten better. The numbers show that. But there’s a few things under the hood that we still need to get better at.”
Peek inside Petco
Heading into a three-game weekend series with a fellow postseason contender, Cora raved about San Diego’s Petco Park — consistently among the league leaders in attendance — and what another hostile, playoffs-like experience will mean for his less-experienced players.
“We haven’t been to San Diego in two years, and I’m excited about it because it’s another place [where] our young guys are going to learn a lot,” he said. “They have a veteran team, with a good pitching staff and a fan base that is rabid. Like, they really want it. It’s going to be loud, it’s going to be fun”
The Sox will see some familiar names on the mound. Starting for the Padres will be Nick Pivetta (who pitched for the Sox from 2020-24) on Friday, Michael King (a Rhode Island native, Boston College product, and former Yankee) on Saturday, and Dylan Cease (a Red Sox trade deadline possibility last week and a potential target once he reaches free agency this offseason) on Sunday.
The Red Sox will keep their rotation in order: Walker Buehler, Lucas Giolito, Bello.
A familiar pain for Narvaez
This week is not the first time catcher Carlos Narváez has dealt with a bothersome left knee.
Early this season, the same issue popped up, Narváez said, but after a couple of days the pain “went off” and stayed away — until Tuesday, when a routine run down the first base line triggered the same knee.
He said after a round of medical tests Wednesday that he was just sore and that he planned to be back in the lineup Friday or Saturday.
“I’ve been through this, know how to live with it, know it goes down a little,” Narváez said. “Hopefully it’s the same thing. Hopefully I’ll be good by the weekend.”
Bregman on Anthony
Alex Bregman on the new contract for Anthony, his locker neighbor and mentee of sorts: “I’m super happy that he’s happy. Being here long term and being able to be here and even at his age be a leader of this franchise, he’s an unbelievable player and so mature and I’m happy for him.” … Tanner Houck’s Tommy John surgery is scheduled for Aug. 18 … Red Sox-Yankees on Aug. 24 was claimed by ESPN for “Sunday Night Baseball.” It had been an afternoon series finale … The Cardinals claimed reliever Jorge Alcala off waivers from the Red Sox.
Tim Healey can be reached at timothy.healey@globe.com. Follow him @timbhealey.
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