00:00And Craig Breslow, good morning.
00:03Good morning. How are you doing?
00:05Well, it is the most, I think, the most optimistic day of the Red Sox season.
00:10Always opening day. Hope springs eternal.
00:13And big expectations, I'm sure, not only from us as fans,
00:18but from you and from everybody else when it comes to this baseball team this season.
00:24Sure. I think that's fair.
00:26We set out this offseason to build a team that we thought could compete for the division
00:30and make a deep postseason run.
00:32We wake up this morning ready to put that plan into action.
00:37I do think there's a lot of excitement around the team.
00:40It was a productive spring.
00:42It was great to watch the identity of this team emerge.
00:45I think on the whole, we played good defense, put the ball in play.
00:50We let the athleticism show in terms of running the bases
00:52and know that starting pitching should be a strength of this team
00:57and give us a chance to win every night.
00:59Craig, you told us, you know, before the offseason,
01:01that one area that you wanted to improve,
01:03that you were looking to get a power bat in the lineup.
01:06You guys missed out on that.
01:08And so we've kind of been trying to figure out, like, projections of certain players.
01:13You know, Roman Anthony has projected hit 25-plus home runs.
01:17How do you as an organization look at players
01:21and figure out where you might project them to be statistically?
01:27Sure. I think this is a topic of conversation and has been for a long time
01:34in that every team uses projection models and collects a bunch of information
01:38and tries to make the best prediction about what a future performance is going to look like,
01:42knowing that those models are imperfect and we have to marry, you know,
01:48what we're seeing in front of us, what the information is telling us
01:51and kind of the natural development of players.
01:56And so I don't think anybody would say that these projections are perfect,
02:01but they're better than flipping a coin.
02:03Craig, when you look back on opening day with last year's roster
02:07and you think about Christian Campbell,
02:10is there anything that you feel the franchise could have done differently
02:14with that particular player last season?
02:19It's a very fair question.
02:21You know, obviously Christian flew through the minor leagues in 2024,
02:26had an incredible season, you know,
02:29and had a great first month of the season last year before struggling.
02:33And, you know, as much as the staff tried to help him adapt to the way
02:39that opponents were pitching him, you know, there were real struggles
02:43and he ended up getting optioned and working on those things in AAA.
02:48Looking back, you know, I think he had earned the right to be challenged
02:53given the way that he had dominated the minor leagues.
02:55But I think we have to remember that, you know, he's still a kid
02:58who hadn't had a ton of baseball reps in college,
03:02didn't have a ton of professional baseball reps.
03:04And so he's still developing.
03:07Craig, we as fans, we look here and we always, you know,
03:10have expectations and what could be realistic,
03:13what could go above and beyond what our expectations are.
03:17When you start to look at this team
03:18and where you guys have been over the past couple of years,
03:21what is the expectation of this team from an organization standpoint
03:25as well as from what those guys are thinking in the clubhouse?
03:30Yeah, starting with the guys in the clubhouse,
03:32there's a lot of confidence and belief
03:35in what they're capable of accomplishing this season.
03:37They share that goal of competing for the division,
03:40making a deep postseason run,
03:41and ultimately, you know, trying to win a World Series.
03:43And we believe in that group.
03:45Now, baseball is incredibly competitive
03:47and it's really difficult to project 162 games
03:50like we just talked about.
03:51But we think we've got a deep and balanced team.
03:55We think we've got guys in Worcester
03:58that are going to contribute over the course of the season.
04:01And so we're really excited for these games to start
04:04so that, you know, we can react to real results
04:08instead of projections.
04:10Is the story that was floating around yesterday,
04:14courtesy of the McAfee program, accurate,
04:18that once this team got Peavey,
04:21you went ahead and printed the Duck Boat t-shirts?
04:25Is that accurate?
04:28I wasn't familiar with that statement.
04:31My wife had actually advised that I stay away from social media.
04:34I think that was a good recommendation.
04:36But if you're telling me,
04:39who is the source of that?
04:41I think it was David Ross who said it.
04:45Oh, then it was definitely true.
04:46Yeah.
04:48Yeah, he said, I mean, that's a full jinx scenario
04:50is that you're printing the, you know,
04:53just push play Duck Boat shirts prior to, you know,
04:58prior to getting there.
05:00Like, I mean, that's a full jinx scenario.
05:01Or it's confidence.
05:03Or it's full confidence.
05:04Yeah.
05:06At the time, I believe it was a 25-man roster.
05:08So if you were to look up and down the roster
05:09and guess which of the 25 guys
05:11would have, you know, printed World Series t-shirts,
05:15how many of you would have chosen me as your first choice?
05:19Craig.
05:20So did Mrs. Breslow say
05:22when you can go back on social media?
05:24Is it like early November?
05:26Or like, what was her advice on that?
05:29No, no.
05:29It's an indefinite timeline.
05:33Craig, one of the things that we're always looking at
05:35is like, obviously, the opening day roster.
05:37And you guys are going to go, it seems like,
05:41with Conley early in the third spot.
05:45But we were on the assumption that maybe that would be Oviedo.
05:50What was the reasoning on why you guys chose to go with early
05:54over Oviedo?
05:57Sure.
05:58Well, first of all, both.
05:59We have a ton of confidence in both of those guys.
06:02And even Peyton Tolley,
06:04who was one of the guys that we sent down later in camp
06:07and really was good all spring.
06:11But opening day is kind of a moment in time
06:14that because, you know,
06:16it has like a deep ceremonial meeting.
06:19But also, we know that a week from now or two weeks from now,
06:21things can change and change pretty quickly.
06:23But out of the gates,
06:24we wanted to pick the guys that give us the best chance
06:26to win as many games as possible.
06:27And we felt like early in the rotation did that.
06:31And that's not to take away from, you know,
06:33what we think that Ovi can be.
06:36But everything that we asked Connelly to do
06:38going back to the offseason,
06:40get bigger and stronger.
06:41And, you know, we've seen the stuff tick up across the board.
06:45The basketball's, you know, a tick harder.
06:47Breaking ball's sharper.
06:49Everything that we've challenged him with,
06:51he's handled.
06:52And he deserves the chance to pitch out of the rotation.
06:56We also know that, you know,
06:57based on the WBC and some disruption
07:01to the buildups of our starters,
07:02we need additional length.
07:03So we think we're going to be able to provide that,
07:06you know, using Ovi in kind of a piggyback situation.
07:09And then we'll react to where we are a couple turns through.
07:12But I would be shocked if Connelly and Ovi
07:16and Toley and others aren't taking down meaningful starts
07:19for us over the course of the season.
07:20Where are you on this discussion
07:22about moving the WBC to some point in the season?
07:28Yeah, I hadn't given it a ton of thought
07:31outside of saying as a fan,
07:33I really enjoyed the WBC.
07:36And I think it was a great platform
07:37for a number of our guys to really shine.
07:40Their performance was, you know,
07:42in a lot of ways was remarkable.
07:44But, you know, again, just as a fan,
07:46I really enjoyed it.
07:47As the chief baseball officer,
07:49you know, you're trying to balance
07:51the desires of these players
07:52to represent their countries
07:54with building them up for the season
07:56and injuries concerns.
07:58So if you're juggling a lot here,
08:00you know, maybe at some point
08:02deep into the future,
08:03I'll be able to enjoy it,
08:05enjoy it solely for the entertainment
08:07that it provides.
08:08Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic
08:10shared that she spoke to you
08:12about your relationship
08:14with Heim Bloom,
08:15who was here for several years.
08:17How has that relationship developed?
08:19How would you describe it
08:21with someone who was formerly
08:23in your position before you?
08:26Yeah, there's a lot of respect
08:28for the jobs that each of us had to do.
08:31And I have a ton of respect
08:31for the job that he did here.
08:34You know, this organization
08:35is in a good place, you know,
08:39and he did a really good job
08:41of acquiring young talent
08:42that we're seeing manifest
08:45and contribute in the big leagues.
08:46We happen to live in the same town
08:49in one of the Boston suburbs.
08:50And we've got kids who are
08:52pretty close in age,
08:54which makes for a fierce
08:56Little League rivalry.
08:57But outside of that,
08:58it's all friendly.
08:59Speaking of relationships,
09:01any, are you related
09:03or any insight into the robot
09:06that appeared at the White House
09:07with Melania Trump yesterday?
09:13I'm going to leave that one alone.
09:15That's not a denial.
09:17No, it's not a denial.
09:19That's true.
09:21I mean, if he does have
09:23a little robot in him,
09:24that's pretty impressive.
09:26All right.
09:26What?
09:26I was going to ask you,
09:28yeah, one more thing,
09:28because we always look at
09:30in sports, identity, identity,
09:32identity about teams.
09:33We talk about that a lot, Craig.
09:35We kind of see what the identity
09:37of the pitching staff is.
09:38It looks like your starters
09:39are going to be good.
09:40Good bullpen.
09:41And we know what you get
09:42from Chapman closing.
09:44What do you feel like
09:46or what would you like
09:47to see the identity
09:48of your offense look like
09:51that we as fans,
09:53we can expect to see
09:54from this team
09:55when it comes to the bats?
09:58Sure.
09:58I think balance
10:01is a word that comes to mind
10:02and relentlessness.
10:03I think we should create
10:04a lot of run scoring opportunities,
10:07which is to say
10:08we should have guys on base.
10:09We have guys who put the ball in play,
10:13who manage the strike zone,
10:15who will take walks.
10:16So I think on base
10:16is going to be a key stat for us.
10:20And then despite what
10:21some people may say,
10:23we have a lot of guys
10:23who can hit the ball out of the park.
10:25And we saw that this spring.
10:26I think we're going to see it
10:27over the course of the season.
10:29But to me,
10:30it's this ability
10:32to continuously create opportunities
10:34to score runs
10:35and doing that
10:35by putting the ball in play.
10:37If you think about
10:38some of the weaknesses
10:39or deficiencies
10:40of our team last year,
10:43we had a lot of opportunities
10:44to score runs,
10:45particularly runners
10:46in scoring position
10:46with less than two outs.
10:48And we didn't put the ball
10:49in play enough.
10:50We didn't catch those runs in.
10:51And that's something
10:52that we've been focused on.
10:53And then on the defensive side,
10:55we've made too many errors
10:56over the last few years.
10:58And so converting balls
10:59that get put in play
11:00and especially balls
11:01that get put in play
11:01on the ground in the infield,
11:02converting those into outs.
11:04So I think there should be
11:05a clean brand of baseball
11:07that we're playing.
11:08And then we're young,
11:09we're athletic,
11:10we're exciting.
11:11So we should be aggressive
11:12on the base pass
11:13and take advantage
11:13of overall team speed.
11:15All right.
11:16Well, we appreciate
11:17always you taking the time
11:18and we will talk to you
11:19all season long.
11:20And it is opening day
11:22for the Boston Red Sox.
11:24So Craig Breslow,
11:25go get them
11:25and enjoy it today.
11:29I appreciate it.
11:30All right.
11:30There you have it.
11:31Craig Breslow,
11:32the Chief Baseball Officer
11:33of the Boston Red Sox.
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