Why Red Sox believe Curtis Mead's breakout season is for real

Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow didn't want to wait for the Aug. 3 trade deadline to make a move. He struck late Saturday night, sending young left-handed starter Connelly Early to the Washington Nationals for infielder and righty power bat Curtis Mead.

It's a true 1-for-1 baseball trade, with the Red Sox dealing away from a position of strength to address an area of need.

Both teams are betting on upside – Mead is also just 25 – so it may take some time to decide who "won" this deal. On the Boston side of things, the bet Breslow is making is that Mead's breakout season this year is the real thing.

Mead was a top-40 prospect in baseball a few years ago, but had struggled to translate that talent to major-league success for a few years. In 152 MLB games from 2023-25 with the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox, Mead hit .238 with a .617 OPS, five home runs and 31 RBIs.

Mead was DFA'd by the White Sox this spring before being traded to the Nationals. In Washington, however, he finally broke through and won a job as an everyday player and a key part of the No. 1 scoring offense in baseball. Mead arrives in Boston with a .254 average, .852 OPS, 17 home runs and 48 RBIs in 87 games. He consistently hit second or third in the order for Washington.

Meeting with the media prior to Sunday's series finale against Toronto, Breslow explained why he believes Mead's breakout season is the real deal and not a fluke.

"I think we had a lot of information available to us," Breslow said. "There was the kind of objective information that we had, some live looks from scouts and scouting reports, talking to the coaches here. It does seem like there were meaningful changes to his setup, where he was holding his hands, to his bat path, to his stride, to where he's consistently getting more damage. He's always had good bat-to-ball skills. He's never really chased. He doesn't swing and miss a ton. Has had good bat speed. And then kind of put it all together, but put it all together in a way that we think is real and sticky. So, we feel like the way that he's performed over the last few months is actually the guy that we're getting."

Breslow also believes Mead's swing and offensive approach is a good fit for Fenway Park in particular.

"We feel like he's a really strong fit for our park," Breslow said. "Right-handed hitter who hits the ball hard, hits the ball in the air, and can pull the ball. And a lot of those swing adjustments that we talked about earlier have facilitated that batted ball profile. He's also a guy that's been a top 30 prospect in baseball not too long ago, so he's kind of got that pedigree. I don't think this is coming out of nowhere. But all of those pieces have come together in a way that maybe has clicked with some just additional run that he's gotten. But as we think about profiles that fit really well for our park, he's pretty close to the top of the list."

The other question is where Mead will play in the field. He played mostly third base for Washington this season with some first base and a little bit of second base mixed in. But he has played more second base in the past, and that is where the Red Sox plan to use him out of the gate. That will allow them to keep Caleb Durbin, who is playing Gold Glove-caliber defense, at third.

"I think I want to see Curtis play some second base," interim manager Chad Tracy said. "Obviously you guys know what Durbin's done at third. Durbin's a very capable defender other places too, so he may get some work in other spots just to give us positional versatility. Like in the middle of a game, if something happens, if you have to do something with a move or somebody gets hurt, he's capable of doing that. But at least here in the initial stages, I'd like to see Caleb stay where he's at. He's been so strong there, and Curtis has experience all around the infield too. He's got, you know, 130-some-odd career games at second. Watched a ton of video, it looks cozy there. So at least initially, I think that's what we'll look at first."

The plan is for Mead to arrive in Boston later in the day Sunday. He will not be available for Sunday's game, but is expected to travel with the team to Sacramento after the game and be activated ahead of Monday's series opener against the Athletics.