Craig Breslow Offers Blunt Assessment On State Of Red Sox

The Red Sox significantly improved their roster in the offseason, but injuries, struggling at-bats and poor defense at times have led Boston to a below .500 record a third into the 2025 season.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow reiterated the faith the club has in manager Alex Cora to turn things around, but also didn’t sugarcoat the abysmal stretch of baseball that has led to a 28-31 record.

“The simple answer is it’s not good enough,” Breslow told reporters in the visitors’ dugout at Truist Park on Saturday before Boston’s middle game with the Atlanta Braves. “It’s not the performance we expected in the offseason. I think we could point to a number of things.

“We haven’t really been able to sync up offense and defense. We have been sloppy in the field at times. We’ve run into mistakes on the bases. We’re going to have to play clean baseball. We’re gonna have to start getting big hits and making big pitches if we want to rattle off the wins that we need. It’s too late in the season and I think the evidence is too strong to just say, ‘We’re gonna be OK tomorrow when we wake up.'”

Breslow said the coaching staff, front office and players are all on the same page when it comes to righting the ship.

“That urgency to try and find a solution is something that I feel and something that our group feels. So if there is an opportunity to pull a lever or pull a string that we think will impact our success on the field, we need to do that. But again, I wouldn’t want some move to paper over a more deeply rooted problem.

“I think everybody is in problem-solving mode. They’re incredibly engaged and invested in what’s happening on the field and like the office, like our coaching staff and the players, they have high expectations for this season. We’re trying to put all options on the table to figure out where we go from here.”

One step change that could potentially help the fielding is rookie Kristian Campbell making his debut at first base in Boston’s series finale with the Braves on Sunday. However, that doesn’t mean he will take over playing at first full-time.

“K.C. is playing tomorrow, (Abraham) Toro’s playing today. We’ll see who plays Monday. We’ll mix and match,” Cora told reporters in Atlanta. “Toro is playing excellent right now. He’s swinging the bat well. He’s a quality at-bat. He doesn’t rush into the at-bat. He takes pitches and he’s doing well.

“It’s not a given (Campbell) is going to play every game over there, especially with where we’re at right now. With Alex (Bregman’s) injury, Marcelo (Mayer) will take most of the innings at third base. We’ve still got a decision when Romy (Gonzalez) comes back. But we’ll mix and match. Having Romy available is going to help us early in the game if we have to pinch-hit and do all that stuff.”