What has been the difference for Wilyer Abreu this year?

WEEI-FM / WEEI

Wilyer Abreu continues to rake! #MLB  What has been the difference for Abreu this year? Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow joins and explains!

Transcript

00:00Boston Red Sox joins us right now. Good morning.

00:04Good morning. How are you doing?

00:05Doing great. The football guy, the professional, former professional football player in the room,

00:12has a question to start about last night's game, which he was asking earlier on the show.

00:17Yeah, Craig, the play at first base when Roman Gonzalez, he's bobbled the ball a little bit,

00:23but then he steps up with the ball in his hand.

00:26He's standing on first base, and the runner never touched the bag.

00:31How did they not call that an out?

00:33Explain that to me, because I always thought that was an out in baseball.

00:37Yeah, so my understanding of the rule is once the runner passes the base and doesn't set foot on the base,

00:44at that point, our first baseman has to present it as it's an appeal,

00:49so kind of demonstrably show that he's tagging the runner or he's tagging the base

00:54because the runner missed the base, which I think if we're going to be critical of anything,

00:59it should be of the rule, because that's a lot to figure out in real time.

01:04But that would be the reason that kind of the incidental contact with the base

01:08while holding the ball after the runner had passed didn't result in the out.

01:14I didn't know that.

01:15Well, Craig, Williard continues to crush.

01:18What's been working so well for him in your mind?

01:22Yeah, so I think he, number one right now, has a ton of confidence.

01:25He's got runway, knows he's going to be in the lineup every day.

01:28Obviously, we saw last night Alex left him up there for a left-on-left matchup,

01:32and he rewarded us.

01:34But going into last season, he had a pretty significant improvement in his bat speed.

01:39This year, he's hitting the ball in the air a ton.

01:43He's a really good player.

01:44So the more at-bats that he gets, the more we're going to see that.

01:48Alex Cora was on this radio station yesterday afternoon talking a little bit about Rafi Devers

01:55and the option, if there is one, for him to do some time over at first base.

02:01And that, you know, talked a little bit about how he has settled into that DH role,

02:06but that he would not be reluctant to talk to him about it at some point.

02:13Just to be clear, has Alex Cora, have they spoken about Rafi maybe doing some time over at first base?

02:22So we've had that conversation kind of internally and just batted around ideas

02:29as we're trying to surface every possible solution.

02:34Now, I think what Alex is pointing out rightfully is we want to make sure

02:39that we're not creating one problem by solving another,

02:42and, you know, Rafi's greatest impact is going to be what he can do in the batter's box.

02:47So, you know, if and when the time comes to have that conversation,

02:52we want to make sure that we're mindful of all of those things.

02:57And I think considering, we need to consider all options,

03:01which doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to pursue them.

03:04Craig, I have to say, this is one of the weirdest weeks I've had watching this team,

03:09following this team in 40 years.

03:12Why is the team afraid of Rafi Devers?

03:17I don't think anybody is afraid of Rafi Devers.

03:21Obviously, we, you know, we had a difficult conversation with him in spring training,

03:26you know, moving him off of third base and into the DH spot

03:30because we felt like that was what's best for the team

03:32and will continue to operate with what is best for the team front of mind.

03:35But is it what's best for the team, the roster flexibility you would get,

03:39having Devers at first, Bregman at third,

03:41and then have whatever guys are nursing injuries or coming up through the minors

03:45be able to DH in a way that would not put them in the field in a position

03:50that the number one prospect in baseball plans to play?

03:55It could be.

03:56You know, if Rafi is able to make that transition pretty seamlessly,

04:02if, you know, it doesn't impact what happens on the offensive side,

04:07then sure.

04:08But those are all factors that we need to consider when making this decision.

04:11Has he done anything with the first baseman's mitt as far as you know?

04:17No.

04:18So far, his infield work has been at third base when he goes out there.

04:22But wouldn't it benefit the organization to see how he could play it just before a game

04:26so you could inform the decision?

04:28I don't know that it's as simple as that because I think, you know,

04:35you put a glove on his hand and he goes out there and he starts to get to work

04:38and then there's a bunch of questions about, is he ready?

04:40How good will he be?

04:41When will he be ready?

04:42So, you know, again, I would say all options need to be on the table

04:47and we need to be anchored to what is best for the team.

04:50And we will do that.

04:53Craig, when you talk about the transition,

04:54you've got two guys down in the minor leagues in Anthony and Marcelo Mayer.

05:01When you think about the transition of going from another position to first base,

05:08what is that transition like for a younger player versus a guy like Devers

05:14who might have only played a position for so long and he's a little bit,

05:17you know, a little bit older in his baseball career?

05:21Not too old, but he's been generally a third baseman.

05:24Is it a little bit easier to move the younger players around to maybe be able to play first base?

05:31Yeah, it's a really fascinating question, actually,

05:34because I think you could see it go both ways.

05:36On the one hand, you know, you're right.

05:38Like these guys have just been kind of anchored to a particular position for fewer years,

05:43just given the fact that they haven't been playing quite as long.

05:46And, you know, everything will be new when they get to the big leagues.

05:51On the other, I think because everything will be new,

05:54you want to be mindful of how many variables and how many new things you might be throwing at someone.

06:01You know, I think the other thing here is both Roman and Marcelo profile as pretty strong defenders

06:07at their respective positions.

06:08And we have to keep at least one eye on kind of the big picture and what the impact on their development would be

06:14if we ask them to make a transition for the short term.

06:18Craig, Lucas Giolito fell off the other night pretty badly.

06:22I understand he's coming back from injury.

06:25The weather wasn't great.

06:26Do you attribute those factors into why he played poorly?

06:30Or are you worried about it?

06:33Well, I think he's got two big league starts this year.

06:37One of them was really, really good.

06:39And the other, you know, he'd be the first to admit wasn't.

06:42You know, we definitely want to track the performance.

06:46We want to track the delivery, knowing that he's coming off a couple of injuries,

06:50both the elbow and the hamstring.

06:53You know, I think we want to find the balance between not being overly concerned with one outing

06:59and also not ignoring opportunities to do address or improve what we're seeing.

07:04So, you know, our pitching group is all over it, and they continue to work with him.

07:09And, you know, we're confident that the next time out, he will be better.

07:12Craig, just to go back briefly to Devers, we all heard him at the training camp,

07:16or spring training, rather, and he was, you know, said he was a third baseman.

07:20Has he said anything to you or Alex, as in not you guys asking him,

07:25has he said to you or Alex that he would like an opportunity to play first base?

07:31Yeah, I think it's probably best just to keep those internal conversations internal.

07:36You know, I understand why there's a lot of attention on this,

07:38and we need to figure out both, you know, kind of the shorter-term

07:42and long-term solution there at first.

07:44But, you know, I think it's important that the conversations we're having internally stay internal.

07:48What would be, you would say, would be the most difficult thing for anybody who's playing the position first base

07:54that they would have to learn or might present the biggest problem when you are a first baseman?

08:03Yeah, I think in this case, you know, there are probably two things.

08:08One would be because, you know, someone like Devers is coming from a DH role,

08:14and, you know, granted, he hasn't been doing it for all that long,

08:17but it did take a period to acclimate where he was going from being engaged in the field every inning

08:23to now trying to figure out what his routine looks like to be prepared for, you know, three, four, five at-bats a night.

08:28So that would represent a change.

08:31And then I think the other thing, as it relates specifically to first base,

08:34is not so much the catching the ball, the footwork around the bag, the fielding the ball.

08:39It's the more nuanced plays to understanding, like, what is your range,

08:43which are the balls that you go after, and which do you leave for the second baseman,

08:47and then being in the right place with respect to cutoffs and relays

08:52and, you know, making sure that the responsibilities that go beyond just catching the ball

08:57with your foot on first base are covered.

08:59Do your analytics guys have any insight into who will be the next pope, by chance?

09:08That is not currently on their list of tasks for the next week or two.

09:13So, yeah, once we get the first base situation sorted out, we can follow up on that one.

09:18And we'll know about that.

09:19There will be some kind of smoke or something that comes out of Fenway Park.

09:24Yes.

09:25Yes.

09:25We were thinking about using the smoke to indicate who will play first.

09:31I like it.

09:32All right.

09:33Craig, thank you, as always, and we will talk to you again very soon.

Category

Transcript

Recommended