Former Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon criticized Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow for the team’s handling of its young players, suggesting that roster construction could ultimately cost the Red Sox a playoff spot.
An analyst with the NESN broadcast crew since 2023, Papelbon appeared on a recent episode of the “Foul Territory” podcast to talk about the Red Sox. When the conversation turned to Kristian Campbell’s struggles, which have followed him to Triple-A, Papelbon condemned the decision to promote Campbell right out of spring training.
“I fully blame Brezlow for doing this, and he knows this. Brez is not dumb,” Papelbon said. “He knows that they called him up too early.”
Perhaps that should have foreshadowed a season rife with youthful mistakes for the Red Sox.
Jonathan Papelbon Laments Level of Youth on Roster Being ‘A Detriment’
Erik Kratz, one of the podcast co-hosts, cited the significant amount of younger players on the Red Sox roster to sarcastically ask if the team was “afraid of older players.” But Kratz made the point that perhaps the team had gone too far too fast with its youth movement.
“Some of these guys are coming up, and they don’t know how to play defense, they don’t know how to put at bats together consistently,” Kratz opined, “and they’re just constantly a talented team that plays 500.”
“They are one of the younger teams,” Papelbon agreed, “and it shows it shows when they play. Hell, they lead baseball in errors (actually second with 76, one less than Colorado). So it is a detriment. It already has been a detriment this season. And they’re trying every day to overcome those types of situations.”
Unfortunately, Papelbon added, that youth is also showing up in the way the players approach the plate, and he warned that it could block Boston’s path to October games.
“It seems like these hitters are 0-and-2 from the on-deck circle,” Papelbon lamented. “Most of these young hitters – Ceddanne [Rafaela], Wilyer Abreu – they just seem to fall 0-and-2 right out the gate. And to me, that’s not passing the baton, that’s not putting at-bats together and trying to get the lineup through so that your damage guys can come up with men on base and in situations like that. So, yes, they’re already suffering from (the young roster), and the biggest thing I’m afraid of is, this is what’s going to keep them out of playoff contention this year.”
As for Campbell, who was Boston’s No. 2 prospect entering the season, the team is now left to hope that his growth wasn’t stunted by the rough introduction to the MLB level. Sent back to Worcester on June 20, the 23-year-old has slashed just .200/.389/.345 in 16 games.
“He had it, and so he’s going to have to regain it,” Papelbon said. “It’s going to be a while. That’s for sure.”
Papelbon noted that Campbell looked the part in spring training, but when the afternoon games in Florida became the night games under the lights at Fenway Park, something about the rookie second baseman had changed.
“He had that look in his eyes, you know?” Papelbon said.
“When a kid comes up to the big leagues, the moment he walks through those doors, you can look at him, have a two-second conversation, look in his eyes and know, ‘Man, this kid is ready for the big leagues,’ or, ‘Man, his eyes are big, and look out, I don’t think he’s ready,’ and that was the case for [Campbell]. Man, I could look at him and be like, ‘Oh no, oh damn.”
Jonathan Papelbon Blames Craig Breslow for Bringing Prospects up too Early
Campbell actually started out great, and after eight games, he was slashing .423/.515/.808, with four doubles, two home runs and five RBIs, jumpstarting a Rookie of the Year campaign that turned out to be extremely premature.
Campbell was still hitting .301 through April, but he batted just .134 in May, with 11 hits, 27 strikeouts and just five walks in 87 plate appearances. His average hovered in the .220s for another few weeks, until the team sent him back to Worcester.
“That’s your typical, ‘Yes, we made a mistake, you know, we called this guy up too early,’” Papelbon said.
Which Papelbon said he feels the team also did with its other prized prospects, Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony. Mayer, who debuted on May 24, was hitting .186 a month later and entered play on Friday slashing .224/.263/.411. Anthony, a June 9 callup, has boosted his numbers to .263/.365/.394 after starting off in a 2-for-28 slump.
“In my opinion, they were called up too early as well,” Papelbon said. “It was, ‘Oh, look at these shiny new tools we have, let’s hurry up and call them up.’ And you know, just now they’re starting to get going.”
Time will tell where they go from here.
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