The Boston Red Sox are scrambling, searching for answers as the season threatens to spiral beyond saving. Injuries have gutted their lineup, stars have stepped aside, and a dark cloud of inconsistency looms larger by the day. With the season slipping through their fingers and a star player down, one young talent looked ready to step into the chaos and deliver. The 22-year-old rookie stepped up with a promise to fill the growing void, but just as quickly, the ground shifted beneath him.

When Rafael Devers refused to take over at first base and give up the DH position to help fill the void left behind by Triston Casas’ knee injury, second baseman Kristian Campbell was ready to try his hand. But now, just before the first game of a doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, he was dropped from fifth to eighth in the Red Sox lineup. Manager Alex Cora responded to this decision and tried to justify it.

“Just giving him some breathing room,” Cora told to Sean McAdam of MassLive before the game. “We’re working hard with him on a few things, and I think timing is a big part of it. There are a lot of moving parts right now compared to early in the season. So, keep working, and hopefully that helps him.” This season has been nothing short of a spiral for Campbell, so this change shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Cora’s decision to drop him in the batting order comes from a desire to take some heat off Campbell. His drop hasn’t just been in the batting order—his stats have also taken a sharp hit compared to the start of the season. Campbell had earned AL Rookie of the Month honors in April. In his first month of the season, he hit .301 with four home runs and a .902 OPS. But just a month later, how is he doing?

Through 13 games in May, he’s batting just .094 with a .278 OPS. That doesn’t exactly scream ‘great.’ He has also been cross-training as a first baseman after Devers turned down that request. But on Thursday, the Red Sox made a move by trading cash to the Los Angeles Angels to acquire Ryan Noda in hopes of replacing Casas. These roster shake-ups—now including Campbell’s order—show the team is still searching for stability. Even the president admits to the disaster the team is going through.

Red Sox president speaks out amid growing season woes

The current state of the team is not what anyone imagined coming out of spring training, it was supposed to be their year. Even though the Red Sox won the series against the Mets 2–1, the finale loss was a reminder of the ugly slump they’re stuck in. President Sam Kennedy couldn’t help but reveal his disappointment during The Greg Hill Show on Thursday.

“I don’t think anybody, including our fan base, thinks this is a .500 team. It’s not acceptable and not what we anticipated coming out of Fort Myers,” he said. He’s not wrong. Nobody would expect the Red Sox to make an October run after seeing their midseason stats. Even a wildcard berth feels like a long shot, considering they’re sitting third in the AL East after losing 25 out of 51 games this season. So what’s the way out?

Well, it’s obvious that these roster shake-ups are efforts to stop the slide. Injuries to key players like Casas and constant position changes are throwing off the team’s consistency, and they desperately need to find it as soon as they can. The Red Sox face the Orioles in a doubleheader on Friday after rain postponed Thursday’s game. If these Cora experiments don’t work out, this season could become even more frustrating for fans who are still hoping for a comeback.