On Sunday, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow met with the media pregame in the wake of news that starting pitcher Tanner Houck would miss the remainder of the 2025 season with Tommy John surgery on the horizon.
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In the midst of a litany of questions from the local media about various injury updates for players up and down the roster, WEEI’s Rob Bradford asked Breslow about his team’s consecutive wins at home against the Astros (62-49) post-trade deadline.
“It’s only been a couple days - but still, [with] human nature, it’s probably sort of satisfying to see how the team has responded after the deadline,” said Bradford.
“Yeah - it’s a really resilient group that’s confident in each other and coming together at exactly the right time and exactly the right way,” said Breslow. “I think there’s a lot to be excited about and reason for optimism.
“We’ve gotta go out and keep playing the way that we do. But I’m not sure there’s a ton that was or wasn’t going to happen coming out of the deadline that was going to knock these guys off the path that they’re on.”
After weathering a tough stretch of games post-All-Star break against the Cubs (64-46), Phillies (62-48) and Dodgers (64-47), the Red Sox (61-51) have won two consecutive series against the Twins (51-59) and Astros, and have a chance to go for the sweep against Houston on Sunday at Fenway Park. That would bring Boston’s winning streak up to five in a row, as well as keeping them undefeated after a quiet trade deadline. This recent hot streak has Boston in the first Wild Card position, ahead of the Yankees (60-51) and Mariners (59-53).
As we all know at this point, Boston’s deadline left much to be desired, only managing to acquire Cardinals reliever Steven Matz (3.38 ERA) and Dodgers starting pitcher Dustin May (6-7, 4.85 ERA).
With a growing list of injuries to the starting rotation as well as a need for a more consistent bat at first base, Boston was in the market for a strong No. 2 starter as well as more depth in the corner infield. And for weeks leading up to the deadline, the team was rumored to have interest in Twins ace Joe Ryan (10-5, 2.83 ERA) to fill one of those voids.
And while Breslow insisted on a post-deadline Zoom with the media that the team was “uncomfortably aggressive” despite reports suggesting otherwise, the Red Sox came up empty handed of their two primary targets.
With that said, the Sox keep winning.
A short sample size, of course. But Breslow likes what he sees so far.
First pitch against the Astros on Sunday is slated for 11:35 a.m. ET, with Lucas Giolito (7-2, 3.80 ERA) getting the start for Boston. Framber Valdez (11-4, 2.62 ERA) is on the bump for the Astros.
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