As a player, it was Craig Breslow’s job to strengthen his team’s bullpen. As the Red Sox’ new chief baseball officer, Breslow will be making the starting rotation his priority.
Joining Gresh & Fauria on Thursday after his introductory press conference, Breslow made it clear where he thinks Boston needs the most help this offseason.
“I think any kind of quick diagnostic reveals that starting pitching was an area that represents a huge opportunity to take a meaningful step forward,” Breslow said. “And I think there are multiple paths to doing that. I think there's the emergence of young players. I think there's solidifying and stabilizing the roles of some of the guys that were forced to bounce back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen. And then I think there's exploring kind of the free agent and trade markets in a way that bears meaningful fruit. But that's likely where most of our attention will be, is on the pitching front.
“And then the other thing that stands out is shoring up infield defense. I think as [Trevor] Story returned late in the season and stabilized the shortstop position, that role that will continue to be really important heading into 2024. There are some guys internally that we’re excited about if they can take a step forward, but we should also be opportunistic and looking at meaningful upgrades at second base.”
Breslow used the phrase “building a sustainable winner” multiple times, which is something we often heard from Chaim Bloom as well. But Breslow also indicated that he might be a little more willing to part with prospects in order to upgrade the major league roster.
“What every organization strives for is building that sustainable winner,” he said. “It takes kind of consistency of decision-making. It takes discipline. It takes a willingness to make bold, difficult decisions around trading prospects for major league value. I'm willing to do all of those things. I've seen all of those things executed.”
As for what kinds of pitchers Breslow will be looking for, it’s clear that having swing-and-miss stuff will be a priority.
“If you think about the mental model of pitching, successful pitchers can miss bats, can manage hard contact, and can minimize walks,” he said. “The ability to generate swings and misses in the strike zone is kind of the time-tested, foolproof recipe for success, because you're not influenced to a great extent by balls in play. So, kind of in a in a perfect world, we've got a host of pitchers who can generate swings and misses in the strike zone.”