Are Breslow and Cora on the same page when it comes to 1B? #Redsox CBO Craig Breslow joins! For Breslow, what is a bigger Sox concern- Defense or blown saves? #MLB
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00:00Morning, Craig.
00:02Good morning.
00:03How you doing?
00:06I'm hanging in there.
00:07Obviously, tough few-game stretch here.
00:10But, you know, normally you get to say that's why we play again tonight,
00:13but we're off tonight, so we've got a little bit of a chance to catch our breath.
00:16Well, I know it's early.
00:18The baseball people always tell me you've got to wait.
00:20But, you know, we sit here with a quarter of the season gone,
00:26and the team is hanging around .500.
00:30A bunch of these losses are one-run games.
00:35From your perspective as the chief baseball officer, what's going on there?
00:43Yeah, I think we have 12 one-run losses, most in baseball.
00:48And normally you would say over the course of 162 games,
00:52these things tend to even out.
00:54But I think if you do that, you risk the chance of missing, you know,
01:00an important trend or failing to address something.
01:03And I think, you know, at some point we have to look at our bullpen, you know,
01:08and are we giving ourselves the best chance to win games?
01:11You know, are we getting the right guys out there?
01:13Are we, you know, are we throwing the right pitches?
01:16Do we have the right arms back there?
01:19You know, it seems like we – the frustrating part is we're in a bunch of these games.
01:24But we're not doing, you know, everything that it takes to win the game.
01:28We're not finishing them off.
01:30Well, Craig, I'm glad you said that because Alex Cora talked about despite being swept in Detroit,
01:34he was happy with how the guys played.
01:36And I was just wondering where the line is of just not being okay with moral victories
01:41when you have such a talented roster.
01:43Yeah, you know, and that's why I think we have to look at some of these underlying trends.
01:50And it's true that we have a really resilient group, you know, came back from some early deficits,
01:58had some really big hits.
02:00You know, the offense kept us in games, kept punching back.
02:03But at the end of the day, you know, we don't get a ton of credit for, you know,
02:08the games that we should have won but didn't or, you know, the expected outcomes.
02:13These things start to rack up.
02:16And when we have winnable games in front of us, we need to do a better job winning them.
02:19That's the bottom line.
02:21Craig, you said get the right guys out there.
02:23When do we kind of get past the Devis to first base?
02:27Who's going to play first base?
02:29Have you guys made a decision on what you want to do with Devers when it comes to that position?
02:34Or are you focused on who is going to potentially be the next guy, whether it's, you know,
02:40Gonzalez or some of the younger guys that you might have down in Worcester?
02:45Yeah, I think we're evaluating all of those situations at the same time.
02:49You know, I think there is the – there was the short term, you know, kind of we obviously brought up Toro.
02:55And then Romy got hurt and, you know, we had Sogard who's filled in, done a really nice job.
03:03But I think, you know, we want to think about what does this look like over the next few weeks
03:07and then also what does this look like longer term.
03:10So nothing has been eliminated, but we have to be realistic about, you know,
03:14how long a transition might take.
03:16This was never something that we were going to have the answers to in a matter of days.
03:20When nothing's been eliminated, does that mean that Devers is open to the opportunity?
03:24Should he be asked?
03:26Yeah, the conversations are ongoing.
03:29Obviously, this became very, very public last week.
03:32But I do think it's best when these things are resolved internally.
03:37So, you know, we'll continue to talk through what the possibilities are.
03:43And we are going to be anchored, I've said this for a really long time,
03:45to what's best for the team.
03:48And as long as we put that first, we're going to be okay.
03:50But what Devers said after you were on last week, following the game last Thursday,
03:56was that in the best interest of the team, Devers' reaction to the conversation you had
04:01about first base?
04:03Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously, like I just said,
04:06my preference is for these things to remain internal.
04:09But, you know, Rafi is, he's emotional and he's invested and he cares a ton about, you know,
04:15about the Boston Red Sox.
04:17And, you know, he obviously had some frustration that he shared kind of in real time.
04:22You know, and since then, there have been a number of conversations and meetings.
04:28Obviously, you know, John and Sam and I flew out to Kansas City.
04:32And I think that the temperature has calmed down a bit and we're going to continue to talk and engage.
04:37So, yeah, I was going to ask, and I appreciate the fact that you wisely at times want to keep it internal.
04:42But from your perspective, John Henry making the trip out there,
04:47that ended up being a positive when it comes to the working relationship between everybody.
04:54For sure.
04:56You know, and the details of the conversation are best kept in the room.
05:02But John, as the principal owner, you know, getting on an airplane and flying to Kansas City to address this,
05:08I think shows how engaged he is and how much he cares and how highly he thinks of this group.
05:13You know, I think that's evidence of the fact that we believe we've got a winning team
05:16and we believe in this team.
05:17We've just got to get ourselves on the right track.
05:19Switching gears, Craig, we've talked about Tanner Houck before, but he's continued to struggle.
05:23Now, is the injury that's now placed him on 15-day IL, is that the reason for the struggles?
05:31Yeah, I think we'll find out.
05:33But it's always relevant if a player is feeling something, you know,
05:40and the way that their bodies may compensate to try to avoid the discomfort,
05:45whether that's changing the delivery or changing pitch usage or the level of aggressiveness that you throw a pitch.
05:50And we've seen his velocity fluctuate over the last couple of weeks.
05:54He, you know, was throwing particularly hard in a handful of starts.
05:57The one in Toronto, I think, stands out.
05:59And then the below was down a tick or a tick and a half.
06:02You know, in his last one, the command wasn't quite what it was, what it had been.
06:07The slider had shortened up a little bit.
06:08So, you know, I think the first thing and most important thing is we get him completely healthy,
06:13you know, and then we'll identify the impact that that has on his pitches and on his delivery
06:19and ultimately on his performance.
06:20Craig, just one more quickly on the Devers, because it's been, as you can imagine,
06:24the biggest talker regarding your team the last week.
06:27We know that you were there with John Henry and Sam Kennedy.
06:31Obviously, understand the private nature of conversations,
06:34but have you yourself spoken directly with Devers since last Thursday?
06:40Yeah, I'm in communication with almost all of our players, including Rafi.
06:47You know, it was a kind of casual interaction, but we'll continue to have the dialogue,
06:55you know, and Rafi is always willing to sit down and talk.
07:00And obviously, sometimes the nature of those conversations can be frustrating,
07:03but, you know, I have to be willing to have the conversations that I think are in the best interest of the team.
07:09And last one on that.
07:09Don't use the Signal app, because that got the Secretary of Defense in trouble.
07:16I appreciate that.
07:18Yeah, that's what Ken uses to send out our schedule.
07:21He's on WhatsApp, Ken is.
07:23What's up?
07:25So, Craig, there's been some speculation as well regarding the relationship of you and the manager
07:32that you may not be seeing eye to eye on this.
07:35How are you and Alex Cora dealing these days?
07:37And are you guys both on the same page as to the future of First Base?
07:43Yes.
07:44Alex and I talk multiple times per day.
07:47We bounce ideas off of each other in a very important and productive way.
07:51We don't always see things precisely the same way as it relates to in-game strategy and those types of things.
07:58And that's what makes – I think that makes for a really meaningful and important relationship.
08:03But ultimately, we are able to talk through our situations and, you know, commit to a single direction going forward.
08:11So, I think this idea of the disconnect or discord is significantly overblown here.
08:17We talked about this a little bit earlier this morning.
08:20And I understand we're only a quarter of the way through this season.
08:24But the defense leads the league in errors.
08:27The offense leads the league in strikeouts.
08:31And the team leads the league when it comes to blown saves.
08:35For you, which is a bigger concern at this point in the season?
08:41Yeah, and not to make light of that, but if you were to read those things out, you would say we must be 10 games under .500, right?
08:48But the reality is we've stuck around because I think despite those things we have done – you know, we've had some strong individual performances.
08:56You know, we have gotten some big hits and big outs, just not enough and not consistently enough.
09:02You know, I think the one-run lead loss is the blown saves.
09:07That's the one that has the most, like, stigma and emotional attachment to it because it typically happens late in games and, you know, you're holding a lead.
09:18And, you know, I think things like strikeouts are maybe a little bit more embedded in approach and potentially take a little bit longer to mitigate.
09:27So, I think that, you know, the bullpen is something that can be addressed.
09:31And then also, I think with respect to the errors, there are times where you watch our team and you think this is a very, very good defensive team with strong track records of being good on defense.
09:46And some of the errors seem, you know, and on the one hand, maybe some inexperience, particularly around first base and Christian as he gets acclimated to the big leagues.
09:54But, you know, I think we're going to look up and say Alex Bregman has had another great defensive season and Trevor Story is a very solid defensive shortstop.
10:01And, you know, that says nothing about the defense that our outfield has played.
10:05So, that one's not as concerning to me so long as we're doing the work every day, which I know we are.
10:10But I think the bullpen is certainly an area of focus, you know, and then continuing the conversations with our hitting group on, you know, what we're trying to do before we get to two strikes
10:20and then our need to compete with two strikes and put the ball in play.
10:24All right. Well, thanks for taking the time, as always, Craig Breslow, and we will talk to you again soon.
10:30Sounds good. Thank you.
10:32That is the Red Sox front office report.