In the latest development in their unpredictable 2026 season, the Boston Red Sox lost two games in a row, and the three-game series, to the team with the worst record in the American League, the Los Angeles Angels.
A 6-4 defeat following Tuesday’s 6-1 loss to the Angels at least temporarily halted the Boston momentum after the Red Sox had reeled off a five-game winning streak.
The day after the series-capping defeat to Los Angeles, the Red Sox announced an unfortunate decision on a former No. 2 organizational prospect who has been fighting to get back to the big leagues since his demotion to Triple-A in June 2025.
The Red Sox announced that 24-year-old Kristian Campbell was placed on Triple-A Worcester’s 7-day injured list Thursday with a left foot contusion, likely closing the door on any 2026 return to Boston.
The announcement lands just days after Boston passed him over for a big league promotion.
Kristian Campbell’s Left Foot Injury
Worcester activated infielder Max Ferguson from Double-A Portland to fill the open roster spot, according to MassLive‘s Chris Cotillo, who broke the news on Thursday afternoon. The WooSox have 10 regular-season games left before their season wraps up Sept. 20.
Campbell had been nursing a sore toe before the IL designation, according to MassLive‘s Christopher Smith. He exited Tuesday’s game against Lehigh Valley in the sixth inning, then sat out Thursday entirely.
“Adversity does make you better,” Campbell said earlier this year of his grinding season in the minors, as quoted by MLB.com‘s Ian Browne. “I’m working every day to get back, and they know that I really want to get back as soon as possible.”
Complicated Path Back to Boston for Campbell
Campbell hasn’t played a major league game since June 2025. He spent the entire season at Worcester, shifting exclusively to the outfield after his once-promising run at second base collapsed. Campbell arrived as part of Boston’s hyped “Big Three” prospects alongside Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer, according to NBC Sports Boston.
When Ceddanne Rafaela landed on the 10-day injured list with a quad strain Sept. 6, Boston reached past Campbell and called up Nate Eaton instead, a decision that reopened the debate around Campbell’s stalled path to the majors.
Interim manager Chad Tracy explained the thinking afterward. He called Eaton the better defensive outfield option and said he didn’t want to pull Campbell into a bench role and disrupt his everyday at-bats in Worcester, according to The Athletic‘s Jen McCaffrey.
It’s a steep fall for a player Boston once viewed as a foundational piece. The Marietta, Georgia, native and Georgia Tech product, a 2023 fourth-round pick, signed an eight-year, $60 million extension in April 2025, days after debuting as Boston’s Opening Day second baseman — a deal that could approach $100 million if the club exercises both options for 2033 and 2034. He’d arrived as MLB Pipeline’s No. 7 overall prospect and won AL Rookie of the Month honors that April, batting .301 with four homers.
Then Campbell hit just .159 with a .222 slugging percentage from May onward in 2025, a slide that coincided with a sudden inability to pull the ball, according to FanGraphs.
He’d missed three games in early May with rib discomfort, an injury he downplayed at the time but later pointed to as a turning point. Boston sent him down that June, and his defensive metrics at second base — a minus-9 Outs Above Average mark in his final big league stint — ranked among the sport’s worst.
This season, back at Worcester and playing exclusively outfield, Campbell hit .256 with a .763 OPS, eight homers and 51 RBIs in 109 games. He turned 24 on June 28.
Red Sox Announce Unfortunate Decision on $100 Million Outfielder After Loss