Kristian Campbell was given Sunday off to catch his breath.
The rookie second baseman is 4 for 51 (.078) with 17 strikeouts and one walk in his last 12 games. The slump dropped his OPS from .935 to .708.
It has been a struggle defensively, too. Metrics show Campbell to be one of the lowest-rated players at his position in the majors.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said he has seen improvement from Campbell on the defensive side in recent weeks.
“Offensively just a rookie going through a big-league season,’’ Cora said. “Teams are going to make adjustments.’’
The Sox feel Campbell has done a good job of controlling the strike zone but isn’t making good contract when he does swing.
“You’ve just got to be patient,’’ Cora said. “There is the route we went, and we understand the player. We know that there’s potential there.’’
The Sox remained convinced Campbell will be fine.
“One hundred percent,’’ Cora said.
But it might be at a different position before too long. Campbell went through another round of defensive drills at first base before Sunday’s 10-4 loss against the Braves. The process is to a point that the Sox would put Campbell at first base in a lopsided game to see how he looks. They didn’t do that Sunday, staying with Abraham Toro for the entire game.
“We’ll get there when we get there. There’s not a commitment,’’ Cora said. “This is kind of introducing the position to the kid. We believe that, athletic-wise, he can do it. But there’s more than just standing there and catch throws.’’
Cora remembers the injuries and missteps the Red Sox encountered when they tried to move Christian Arroyo, Franchy Cordero, and Kyle Schwarber to first base in past seasons.
“It’s not just plug in a guy in over there and here we go, see what happens,’’ Cora said. “We have to see how he moves.’’
As Campbell works at the position, shortstop Marcelo Mayer has started two of his last three games in Triple A at second base.
Family first
Cora will not manage Monday’s game against the Mets. His daughter, Camila, is graduating from Boston College and there’s a big family celebration in the works.
“It went fast. It went really fast,’’ Cora said.
Cora gave credit to his ex-wife, Nilda Vazquez, for all she did in raising their daughter.
“While I was playing and coaching and doing my ESPN thing, Nilda was amazing with her,’’ he said. “[Camila] is actually a reflection of her. I appreciate everything that she’s done for her and for us.’’
Cora said having Camila close by “meant a lot’’ as he managed the team. So skipping one game to celebrate her achievement was an easy call.
“I’ll 100 percent miss the game for that and I’ll do that any given day because it’s going to be a special day for us,’’ he said.
Camila Cora is headed to her father’s alma mater, the University of Miami, for grad school.
Bench coach Ramón Vázquez will manage the team in Cora’s absence.
Mets up next
The Mets arrive at Fenway Park on Monday for a three-game series. The National League East leaders are 4-2 against the Sox over the last three seasons. Juan Soto has hit .216 at Fenway Park in nine career games, but does have three homers . . . Romy Gonzalez, out since May 7 with a bruise on his left quad, is able to take full swings. But running remains an issue, specifically slowing down once he gets going. He hopes that will feel better in a few days. Cora predicted it would be by the end of the week . . . Righthander Richard Fitts is set to throw in the bullpen Tuesday then start a rehab assignment after that. He has been out since April 13 with a muscle strain near his shoulder . . . The pregame ceremonies included a tribute to EMS workers. Fenway Park organist Josh Kantor then played the 1973 hit “Heartbeat, It’s a Lovebeat’’ by the DeFranco Family.
Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him @PeteAbe.