Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishARLINGTON, Texas – Three days into his big league career, Kristian Campbell has made quite the impression at the plate and in the field.His performance may be paying off in more ways than one.After a 4-3 loss to the Texas Rangers on Saturday, MassLive reported that the Boston Red Sox are deep in talks on a contract extension with the 22-year-old, who ranks as The Athletic’s No. 9 prospect in baseball, per Keith Law.“I just leave that to my agents and let them talk back and forth and work out what is going to be done, and we’ll listen, for sure,” Campbell said after the game.“They’re talking back and forth, I know that for a fact,” he added. “I’m not sure how close or not close it is, but we got some communications on that for sure.”In three games, Campbell has gone 5-for-10 at the plate, including a 2-for-3 night on Saturday when he slammed his first career home run and doubled in the next at-bat.“He’s feeling better and better,” manager Alex Cora said of the rookie. “If you watch his highlight reels from last year, his homers are left-center, right-center on the fastball, and he pulls the soft stuff pull side. He’s feeling good about himself.”Campbell’s home run to left-center in the fourth traveled 431 feet with an exit velocity of 112 mph. It marked the hardest hit ball of any Red Sox player this season. As he rounded the bases, the normally stoic Campbell let out a holler and pointed to his family in the stands as he was approaching third base.
SOMEONE GET THAT BALL FOR KC! pic.twitter.com/hfHJf72JTB
— Red Sox (@RedSox) March 30, 2025“Just energy,” he said of his emotional response. “A lot of people in the stadium, first time hitting a home run in Major League Baseball. Just a lot of energy. And my family was here, too.”Campbell has split time between second base and the outfield since he was drafted by the Red Sox two years ago in the fourth round. Through his first two games in Texas, he played second base, maneuvering the position much more smoothly than he had at the start of spring training when the Red Sox were trying to tighten his mechanics on double plays and feeds.On Saturday, Cora started Campbell in left field, and on his very first play, he nearly made a highlight reel catch. With two on and two outs in the bottom of the first, Adolis Garcia launched a deep fly to left. Campbell sprinted to the spot, diving for the ball. He got it in his glove, but as he hit the ground, the ball bounced out, allowing two runs to score.
Absurd effort for Kristian Campbell but he can’t hang on and it’s a 2-run double for Adolis Garcia pic.twitter.com/O63r6vIJqc
— The Pesky Report (@ThePeskyReport) March 29, 2025“He almost made one of the best catches we have seen,” Cora said. “That’s probably a zero percent catch probability.”In actuality, Statcast had the play as a 15 percent catch probability, but Campbell was still disappointed he missed the play, telling starter Walker Buehler he’d make up for it. That’s when Campbell homered in his next at-bat.“As soon as it was hit, I took off running for the gap and as I got close to it, I tried to make a play on it, tried to catch it before it hit the ground,” he said.“I was definitely frustrated when it first got into my glove, but hit the ground,” he added. “Gave my best effort for it and tried to make a play on it. But it didn’t stick.”As they did in spring training, the Red Sox plan to move Campbell between infield and outfield, his versatility a valuable asset that helped him make the big league roster on Opening Day. In fact, at 22 years, 272 days old on Thursday, he was the youngest Red Sox player to debut on Opening Day since Joe Lahoud in 1968 (20 years, 363 days).On the diving play, Cora noted Campbell does extra work during batting practice, tracking balls in the outfield, so he wasn’t surprised Campbell got to the ball.“He’s such a good athlete and on that one, the way it’s hit, you’re thinking that’s a double,” Cora said. “Then he was closing the gap and you’re like ‘Oh (shoot), he’s going to get it.’ Kind of like Coco (Crisp’s catch) in 2007.“He’s a good athlete,” Cora said. “There’s a lot to learn, but he’s learning a lot. It’s a joy to watch.”Early in spring training, Campbell struggled with eight strikeouts in his first 12 plate appearances, but the Red Sox gave him time, confident he’d find his rhythm.Cora said it wasn’t until late in camp when Campbell homered on March 22 in Tampa that he started to see his confidence build.It’s been a while since the Red Sox have had such a young hitter excel so early in the season. Campbell’s 5-for-10 start has made him the youngest Red Sox player with five or more hits in his first three games to start a season since Xander Bogaerts in 2014.All the more reason the Red Sox are seeking to sign Campbell to a contract extension sooner rather than later.While Campbell provided the highlights for the night, the rest of the offense, outside of Wilyer Abreu, continued to struggle.The Red Sox went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. Though Rafael Devers drew a walk on Saturday, he continued to pile up strikeouts, adding three more to his line.He’s now 0-for-12 with 10 strikeouts in his first three games. Per Codify, he’s the first player in MLB history to strike out 10 times in the first three games of a season. Only twice before (Wally Post in 1956 and Greg Luzinski in 1974) had a player struck out nine times in the first three games.On the mound, Buehler made his Red Sox debut, but managed just 4 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits while striking out three. He threw 80 pitches, 48 strikes, and registered just nine swings-and-misses.(Photo: Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)
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