Red Sox CBO, Craig Breslow, Joins! Story Update!

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Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer, Craig Breslow, joins! Breslow talks workload difference between Minor Leagues and MLB. Story update?! Breslow: "There's a real strong chance that Trevor is putting on Red Sox uniform and helping us at some point.

Transcript

00:00Craig, Chris Curtis in for Greg. How are you this morning?

00:05Good.

00:06Sorry about that. Good morning, Craig. How are you?

00:09Good, thanks. How are you doing?

00:10We're doing well. Nice road trip, 4-3.

00:13How are you feeling this morning as you guys return home with a day off

00:16before taking on the Diamondbacks?

00:18Yeah, it was a really good road trip.

00:21Certainly there were probably a couple more games we could have won,

00:24but any time you head on the road for seven games

00:28and you play in Baltimore for four and then Houston for three

00:31and walk away with a winning record, I think you absolutely have to take it.

00:34We saw a lot of good things.

00:36Maybe the pitching staff stabilized a little bit.

00:39The rotation gave us a chance to win.

00:42This turned through.

00:43Bullpen, especially over the last two days, has really taken a step forward.

00:46And then we saw Jaron Durant continue to be a spark plug at the top of the lineup,

00:54seeing like he single-handedly was responsible for scoring runs

00:57in the beginning of those games in Houston.

00:59Sidon had a really great series on both sides of the ball,

01:03making highlight plays on defense and contributing with the bat

01:08in meaningful ways.

01:09Masa continued to stay really hot.

01:11So a lot of really, really good things.

01:13Eleven games over .500, you have the second most road wins

01:16in all of Major League Baseball behind only the Orioles.

01:19What is it about your team that allows it to excel away from Fenway?

01:24Yeah, I'm not really sure.

01:25We spend a ton of time thinking about that.

01:27Alex and I often joke about, you know, do we try to put the guys up in a hotel?

01:31Do we have a team bus to Fenway?

01:33Because we've got to figure out how to win more games at home.

01:36But tomorrow night is a good place to start.

01:40Craig, the players have acknowledged knowing the importance of the last series,

01:45and Alex Cora has acknowledged the fact of your standings

01:49and keeping up with where you guys are.

01:51How important is it for you that players and Alex Cora know where you're at,

01:56know the importance of games, but don't focus too much on that?

02:00Yeah, I would love to lie to you and say nobody looks at what's happening

02:05around the league and nobody looks at how the other teams that we're chasing

02:09are playing.

02:10That's just not true, especially as you approach late August

02:14and into September and players are no different.

02:17But I think what we have to try to do is recognize that reality

02:20while also maintaining focus on what we need to do,

02:23and that's win the games that are in front of us.

02:26You know, what happens around the rest of the league doesn't really matter

02:30if we don't play good baseball and we don't win.

02:34But, you know, it's natural to look around.

02:38I think Alex deserves a ton of credit.

02:40The players and staff deserve a ton of credit for their ability

02:42to maintain focus throughout the season.

02:45I think we've talked about that a handful of times on this show,

02:48whether it's injuries or outside narratives.

02:53Alex's contract situation, that group has done a great job

02:58of focusing on their play on the field, on getting better,

03:02and as a result, we find ourselves in this position

03:04playing really meaningful games.

03:06Craig, when you look at, you say, the reality of, you know,

03:11where you are, looking at the schedule, what's the reality for, you know,

03:17let's say the beginning of September, midway through September,

03:21where you feel like you need to be when it comes to being

03:26within striking distance.

03:27Hopefully, you're holding on to one of those wild card spots,

03:31but is there a specific, like, two games back, you know,

03:34game and a half back, like, is there a specific place you'd like to be,

03:38you know, beginning midway through September?

03:42You know, I'm not sure that there is because anytime you're in a position

03:48where, you know, you need other teams to lose games, you know,

03:53it's to, you know, kind of by definition out of your control.

03:57So we would love to be in a place where, you know,

04:00if we take care of our games, you know, we'll be fine.

04:04That's not the case today as things currently stand,

04:08but we also know that this is a really tough stretch for us, you know,

04:12in playing teams that will be going to the playoffs,

04:16and we need to make sure that we can hold our own.

04:18And I think, you know, we've largely done that.

04:21But I think as a general rule, for me, kind of being within, you know,

04:26three games means that you're never more than kind of a series out of things.

04:30But at some point, we're going to run out of time,

04:33and we need to start leapfrogging teams.

04:35What's a successful season for you, Craig?

04:38I mean, you know, the obvious answer there is winning the World Series.

04:42But I think at the same time, while that is the goal

04:45and that's the standard that we should, you know, we should seek to uphold,

04:49I think looking at individual players,

04:52knowing that our core is young and emerging

04:55and being able to point to material improvements in play is really important.

05:03So continuing to shore up, you know, in-field defense,

05:07stabilize the starting rotation,

05:09look at pieces of the bullpen who are emerging

05:12that can be counted on to throw leverage innings,

05:14not just, you know, in the rest of August and September,

05:17but heading into 2025.

05:19But there's no doubt that our focus is completely on 2024.

05:23So it seems to me that the goal is really that third wildcard,

05:27because that's the most approachable.

05:29Is that not the case?

05:30I mean, obviously, you'd love to win the division,

05:32but if you don't make the playoffs, is there a way this was a successful season?

05:36I think it depends on, you know, to your previous question,

05:41depends on how you define success.

05:43But I don't think that we can sit here, you know, given where we are right now

05:47and say that, you know, hey, we had a largely successful season

05:50if we fall short of the playoffs.

05:52That doesn't mean that we won't be able to find good things in that.

05:56But every year, you know, we should strive to make the playoffs.

06:01And given that we have a real chance right now,

06:05I think we would all be disappointed if we fall short of that.

06:08Craig, the bullpen flipped the script in a good way the last two games.

06:13Why do you think that happened,

06:14and how do you make sure that that change is here to stay?

06:18Yeah, so I think there are a few things that we can point to.

06:22One is, you know, starters going a little bit deeper in general

06:27this past turn through, you know, Baio and Tanner,

06:32certainly pitching deeper into games and, you know, Cutter in Baltimore.

06:36And I think that allowed the bullpen to stabilize a little bit

06:38and not, you know, maybe catch their breath a bit.

06:42I think there was probably some positive regression

06:44just in terms of pitches that were thrown in the strike zone

06:47that had gotten hit hard, you know, to some degree weren't.

06:52And then I think there was a little bit of a change in attack and usage

06:55and getting back to attacking the strike zone, thinking about execution.

07:01I think we saw a lot more fast falls this last couple of games.

07:07And with that, maybe the confidence to attack hitters in the strike zone.

07:11I think, you know, Garcia stands out as a guy over the last two nights

07:15who was really aggressive in the zone with a sinker.

07:18The velocity was up to 97, 98.

07:20You know, he showed what made us excited to bring him in in the first place.

07:25Coming from the world of football, we always talk about young guys

07:28hitting a wall, you know, midway through the season.

07:32Alex Cora talked about this team having a lot of young kids.

07:35You talk about this team having some young players.

07:38What are some of the maybe like the obstacles

07:43that some of the younger players have to avoid so they don't hit that wall?

07:47Or is this something that just every player deals with in baseball

07:52when they are a younger player?

07:55Sure.

07:56You know, we can collect a ton of information on workload

08:00and fatigue and recovery.

08:03But the reality is, you know, there's a pretty significant difference

08:07in the workloads between a major league season and even the AAA season

08:11in that our AAA teams are off every Monday.

08:14And, you know, the season is shorter in the minor leagues.

08:19And so a lot of our players are playing more games.

08:21They're getting more at bats.

08:23They're throwing more innings than they ever have before.

08:25And also, you know, they're going to be playing important games

08:29in the end of September and hopefully beyond.

08:32So I think Alex does a really good job of managing the entire roster, right,

08:37and, you know, not shying away from using every guy that's on the team.

08:43We see that in the bullpen.

08:44We see that in pinch hits and being aggressive.

08:47I mean, that's one way to balance out the workload.

08:49But I'm just not sure there's really any way to kind of simulate this

08:53other than to live through it and know that there will be challenges

08:56and obstacles when guys need a day.

08:58We'll try to be proactive with that.

09:00But we're going to be better for, you know,

09:02having this young group play through 162 games and hopefully more

09:07and, you know, play meaningful games in late September.

09:10Craig, we saw Tristan Costas back helping the club

09:14a couple big hits on the road trip.

09:16Any updates on Liam Hendricks or Trevor Story?

09:21Yeah, so Liam has begun his rehab assignment.

09:24That is all going pretty well.

09:28We know that it'll be, you know, a pretty – not terribly lengthy process,

09:33but, you know, part of, say, six or seven or eight games, you know,

09:38he's learned exclusively about, you know,

09:41he needs to throw until he feels like he's capable of getting major league

09:45hitters out, you know, which is the case sometimes in other rehab assignments.

09:49This is actually part of his rehab.

09:52He's still building arm strength, and, you know,

09:54he's still kind of getting up to game speed and game intensity.

09:58With Trevor, he continues to make a ton of progress,

10:00and just being around him in the clubhouse,

10:03there's a different attitude that he's taking every day.

10:05He's excited to go ahead and, you know, in field.

10:08So I think, you know, Liam is certainly on track to come back sooner,

10:12but, you know, I think there's a real strong chance that Trevor is putting on

10:17a Red Sox uniform and helping us at some point.

10:19All right, Craig, that's good to hear.

10:21I appreciate your time, as always.

10:23Good luck against the Diamondbacks, and we'll talk to you soon.

10:26Thank you. I appreciate it. Have a good morning.

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