Why isn't Roman Anthony on the #MLB roster yet? Soon? How can/will the Sox fix the bullpen struggles? Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow joins! Sox aren't hitting well with runners in scoring position- Is that on players or Cora? Could Anthony help? Who/what is the reason for no promotion?
00:00And joining us now, the Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox, Craig Breslow.
00:07Good morning, Craig.
00:09Good morning.
00:11When it comes to things that you are looking forward to doing today, where does this fall on the list?
00:18Right after going to the dentist and catching up on laundry, I think.
00:23Well, it seems like from the outside perspective, the low of the season yesterday, and we are only at the end of May.
00:39As you look at it from your position, how are you feeling about this team right now?
00:48Yeah, there's no doubt we're not where we want to be.
00:52We're not where we expected to be, so that's certainly frustrating.
00:56But frustration isn't going to help us win games.
01:00We've got to figure out how to play better, and I think that's in all facets of the game.
01:07We've been close.
01:08We've had some kind of gut-wrenching losses.
01:11But ultimately, we've also not been playing the brand of baseball that I think we expected.
01:15We're making mistakes on the base paths.
01:17We're not playing the defense that we thought we would.
01:20You know, we're not making big pitches when the game is on the line or coming up with the big hits.
01:25When it comes to the pitches, Craig, the bullpen continues to struggle.
01:29How do you fix that?
01:30I think, you know, we've seen the bullpen more active over the last week or so in terms of getting in the game and usage, you know, getting starters out maybe a little bit earlier and trying to attack opposing lineups.
01:50That way, I think, you know, there's obviously personnel options that you can think about.
01:57But beyond that, as it relates to the guys that are on the team, you know, I think you think about two things.
02:01Number one is how you create the best matchups that you can, you know, so making sure that we're bringing in the right guys at the right time.
02:08And I think recently we have seen that we are doing that pretty well and then also making sure that we're throwing the right pitches and executing them.
02:14And so, you know, I think there's been a shift toward getting back to making sure our relievers are throwing their best pitches when the game is on the line, you know, and really leveraging our strengths.
02:26Craig, I've heard a lot from you, from Alex, from some players about a sense of urgency, but I haven't seen one.
02:34And I just, I think I speak for a lot of people in not understanding why we are sitting here on May 29th after five straight losses and Roman Anthony is crushing the ball in Worcester.
02:48What's the timeline on his potential call-up and why have you been hesitant to do that?
02:56Yeah, so I think it's a fair question, especially when you look at Roman's performance, you know, in the upper levels of the minor leagues and notably in AAA to start this season, you know, and Roman can be a really, really good player, which we think he is and still have some development opportunities that he's working through, whether that's getting comfortable in left field.
03:17He missed a little bit of time with an injury to his throwing shoulder, you know, working on some things at the plate, despite the fact that the, you know, the stat lines are going to scream otherwise.
03:30But I think we also need to be mindful of the environment that Roman would be coming into and the pressure that we could potentially be putting on a 21-year-old, you know, in the midst of a losing streak to come up and save the team.
03:44So Roman's time is coming.
03:46I don't think there's any question about that.
03:48And we've got to figure out, you know, kind of what is best for the organization and what is best for him.
03:52But I would just say, Craig, Christian Campbell wasn't in a good position.
03:55He's playing second base.
03:57He had an awful throw yesterday that cost you the game.
03:59But he's here because you need him.
04:02He's good.
04:03He has talent that the team lacks.
04:05Like, just speaking for myself, if Roman Anthony comes up and goes two for 20, I don't think people are going to be saying he sucks, get rid of him.
04:13I think at some point you have to weigh the impact positively that he would bring to the club against whatever negative component to his ability to understand ups and downs
04:24and whatever his place on the roster would be.
04:27I don't think people would be sitting here saying, Roman Anthony is why we suck.
04:32I think that's fair.
04:33I think that's true.
04:35But at the same time, you know, my job and the job of the organization is to try to put him into a situation where the two for 20 isn't the outcome.
04:43And like I said, he's getting close.
04:45And every time there's a development opportunity in front of him, he kind of checks that box.
04:51And we want to make sure when he comes up, not only is he ready, but there's runway for him to play.
04:57You know, you don't want to bring up a 21-year-old and have him play sporadically.
05:00He needs to be in the lineup every day.
05:02And trying to kind of put all of those pieces together is what we think about every single day.
05:07Craig, wouldn't it be a good time, and I don't know how you guys necessarily think in baseball,
05:14but in football when your team's not doing well, isn't it really a good time to get the young guys out there
05:19and give them that opportunity so if they do make mistakes and if they do struggle,
05:25they're doing it on a team that's really not going anywhere
05:29and maybe makes it a little bit easier versus struggling on a really good team
05:33and maybe you're blowing something that could affect your playoff position?
05:37I think it could be.
05:41I think the other side of that argument would be, you know,
05:43when we're pitching well and playing good defense and the offense is clicking,
05:48you know, there's room to kind of absorb some slumps or underperformance in stretches by others
05:55versus the expectation that any individual is going to be able to turn the season around.
06:02Craig, how do you have that take while also balancing Christian Campbell
06:06expecting to be at first base this weekend?
06:09Are you worried about what that could do to him?
06:14I mean, we're always thinking through what the implications may be of those types of moves
06:20and, you know, losing Tristan for the season was, you know, was a huge blow
06:27and we've got to figure out a way to put the pieces together and give ourselves the best chance of winning
06:31and, you know, we feel like Christian is someone who's going to be able to handle that,
06:37but we also, you know, have tried to play this transition out over enough time for him to get some confidence over there
06:44and, you know, we'll try to ease him in to that role and we're going to have to evaluate it on the fly.
06:49You know, trying to do this in season is not ideal, but this is the hand that we have.
06:55When it comes to execution or lack thereof, we debate all the time, is it predominantly on the players
07:05or is it on the manager of the ball club?
07:08And we were talking earlier about a dubious statistic currently,
07:14and I'm going to go all analytics on you here if that's okay,
07:17but with runners in scoring position, this team is currently .036 average-wise.
07:26Is that just the players aren't hitting the baseball, aren't able to hit the baseball,
07:33aren't able to advance the runner, or is that on the manager of this ball club?
07:40You know, I think to some degree it's on all of us,
07:43and it's really difficult to determine, you know, what is kind of an approach,
07:50what is the execution, what is, you know, kind of just reaching your true talent level.
07:57You know, I think what we have talked about for the last month or so
08:01is the ability to kind of tease out, you know, what your approach is
08:08and what you're trying to accomplish before you get to two strikes
08:10and what you're trying to do with two strikes, and, you know, situational gameplay
08:14is a huge component in scoring runs, and, you know,
08:17I do think we're constantly working through what objectives are in different situations,
08:22and we have not been efficient in getting runs across the board,
08:27especially, you know, our, as you pointed out,
08:30our averages with runners in scoring position.
08:31And so I think it's, you know, it's time to contemplate some different strategies
08:39in terms of being a little bit more aggressive
08:41and just trying to get runs across the board,
08:43maybe at the expense of the ability to have a big inning, right,
08:46and play a little bit more small ball
08:48and take advantage of the athleticism that we have.
08:51And then, you know, when you zoom out,
08:53our offense overall looks okay
08:55because we've had a handful of outbursts
08:59that's maybe skewing the overall look.
09:01So, you know, you could say we're top 10
09:03in terms of run score and OPS,
09:05but we're not scoring runs in high leverage situations,
09:08and as a result, we're not winning enough games.
09:10Is the reason that Roman Anthony isn't here,
09:13I know you noted that the situation,
09:15he needs to check up all these boxes,
09:17but if he comes up and struggles
09:19and has some sort of a mental issue
09:24with the move to the big leagues,
09:26that falls on your lap,
09:27whereas if he takes his time
09:29and waits a little bit longer,
09:31then there's less risk of you feeling heat
09:34for rushing him up here.
09:35Because I watch this team,
09:37I can't imagine that Alex Corr is sitting back
09:39saying, take your time, Roman.
09:40This team is almost on life support
09:42when it comes to division.
09:44It just, it defies logic to most people
09:46observing this team that Roman Anthony
09:47is not there in Atlanta this weekend.
09:52So, I think the most direct way
09:54to answer that question is the perception
09:57or responsibility or accountability
09:59that I would feel if Roman struggles
10:01is not a factor in making this decision.
10:07You know, this isn't about trying
10:08to protect me in any way.
10:11This is about trying to balance
10:13multiple interests do right by our team
10:15and do right by Roman.
10:17Does the team want him?
10:18Have you heard from people in the organization,
10:20whether it's the manager or players,
10:21that, you know, we could really use the help?
