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.
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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.