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What has been the difference for Wilyer Abreu this year?
WEEI-FM / WEEI
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5/8/2025
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!
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Transcript
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00:00
Boston Red Sox joins us right now. Good morning.
00:04
Good morning. How are you doing?
00:05
Doing great. The football guy, the professional, former professional football player in the room,
00:12
has a question to start about last night's game, which he was asking earlier on the show.
00:17
Yeah, Craig, the play at first base when Roman Gonzalez, he's bobbled the ball a little bit,
00:23
but then he steps up with the ball in his hand.
00:26
He's standing on first base, and the runner never touched the bag.
00:31
How did they not call that an out?
00:33
Explain that to me, because I always thought that was an out in baseball.
00:37
Yeah, so my understanding of the rule is once the runner passes the base and doesn't set foot on the base,
00:44
at that point, our first baseman has to present it as it's an appeal,
00:49
so kind of demonstrably show that he's tagging the runner or he's tagging the base
00:54
because the runner missed the base, which I think if we're going to be critical of anything,
00:59
it should be of the rule, because that's a lot to figure out in real time.
01:04
But that would be the reason that kind of the incidental contact with the base
01:08
while holding the ball after the runner had passed didn't result in the out.
01:14
I didn't know that.
01:15
Well, Craig, Williard continues to crush.
01:18
What's been working so well for him in your mind?
01:22
Yeah, so I think he, number one right now, has a ton of confidence.
01:25
He's got runway, knows he's going to be in the lineup every day.
01:28
Obviously, we saw last night Alex left him up there for a left-on-left matchup,
01:32
and he rewarded us.
01:34
But going into last season, he had a pretty significant improvement in his bat speed.
01:39
This year, he's hitting the ball in the air a ton.
01:43
He's a really good player.
01:44
So the more at-bats that he gets, the more we're going to see that.
01:48
Alex Cora was on this radio station yesterday afternoon talking a little bit about Rafi Devers
01:55
and the option, if there is one, for him to do some time over at first base.
02:01
And that, you know, talked a little bit about how he has settled into that DH role,
02:06
but that he would not be reluctant to talk to him about it at some point.
02:13
Just to be clear, has Alex Cora, have they spoken about Rafi maybe doing some time over at first base?
02:22
So we've had that conversation kind of internally and just batted around ideas
02:29
as we're trying to surface every possible solution.
02:34
Now, I think what Alex is pointing out rightfully is we want to make sure
02:39
that we're not creating one problem by solving another,
02:42
and, you know, Rafi's greatest impact is going to be what he can do in the batter's box.
02:47
So, you know, if and when the time comes to have that conversation,
02:52
we want to make sure that we're mindful of all of those things.
02:57
And I think considering, we need to consider all options,
03:01
which doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to pursue them.
03:04
Craig, I have to say, this is one of the weirdest weeks I've had watching this team,
03:09
following this team in 40 years.
03:12
Why is the team afraid of Rafi Devers?
03:17
I don't think anybody is afraid of Rafi Devers.
03:21
Obviously, we, you know, we had a difficult conversation with him in spring training,
03:26
you know, moving him off of third base and into the DH spot
03:30
because we felt like that was what's best for the team
03:32
and will continue to operate with what is best for the team front of mind.
03:35
But is it what's best for the team, the roster flexibility you would get,
03:39
having Devers at first, Bregman at third,
03:41
and then have whatever guys are nursing injuries or coming up through the minors
03:45
be able to DH in a way that would not put them in the field in a position
03:50
that the number one prospect in baseball plans to play?
03:55
It could be.
03:56
You know, if Rafi is able to make that transition pretty seamlessly,
04:02
if, you know, it doesn't impact what happens on the offensive side,
04:07
then sure.
04:08
But those are all factors that we need to consider when making this decision.
04:11
Has he done anything with the first baseman's mitt as far as you know?
04:17
No.
04:18
So far, his infield work has been at third base when he goes out there.
04:22
But wouldn't it benefit the organization to see how he could play it just before a game
04:26
so you could inform the decision?
04:28
I don't know that it's as simple as that because I think, you know,
04:35
you put a glove on his hand and he goes out there and he starts to get to work
04:38
and then there's a bunch of questions about, is he ready?
04:40
How good will he be?
04:41
When will he be ready?
04:42
So, you know, again, I would say all options need to be on the table
04:47
and we need to be anchored to what is best for the team.
04:50
And we will do that.
04:53
Craig, when you talk about the transition,
04:54
you've got two guys down in the minor leagues in Anthony and Marcelo Mayer.
05:01
When you think about the transition of going from another position to first base,
05:08
what is that transition like for a younger player versus a guy like Devers
05:14
who might have only played a position for so long and he's a little bit,
05:17
you know, a little bit older in his baseball career?
05:21
Not too old, but he's been generally a third baseman.
05:24
Is it a little bit easier to move the younger players around to maybe be able to play first base?
05:31
Yeah, it's a really fascinating question, actually,
05:34
because I think you could see it go both ways.
05:36
On the one hand, you know, you're right.
05:38
Like these guys have just been kind of anchored to a particular position for fewer years,
05:43
just given the fact that they haven't been playing quite as long.
05:46
And, you know, everything will be new when they get to the big leagues.
05:51
On the other, I think because everything will be new,
05:54
you want to be mindful of how many variables and how many new things you might be throwing at someone.
06:01
You know, I think the other thing here is both Roman and Marcelo profile as pretty strong defenders
06:07
at their respective positions.
06:08
And we have to keep at least one eye on kind of the big picture and what the impact on their development would be
06:14
if we ask them to make a transition for the short term.
06:18
Craig, Lucas Giolito fell off the other night pretty badly.
06:22
I understand he's coming back from injury.
06:25
The weather wasn't great.
06:26
Do you attribute those factors into why he played poorly?
06:30
Or are you worried about it?
06:33
Well, I think he's got two big league starts this year.
06:37
One of them was really, really good.
06:39
And the other, you know, he'd be the first to admit wasn't.
06:42
You know, we definitely want to track the performance.
06:46
We want to track the delivery, knowing that he's coming off a couple of injuries,
06:50
both the elbow and the hamstring.
06:53
You know, I think we want to find the balance between not being overly concerned with one outing
06:59
and also not ignoring opportunities to do address or improve what we're seeing.
07:04
So, you know, our pitching group is all over it, and they continue to work with him.
07:09
And, you know, we're confident that the next time out, he will be better.
07:12
Craig, just to go back briefly to Devers, we all heard him at the training camp,
07:16
or spring training, rather, and he was, you know, said he was a third baseman.
07:20
Has he said anything to you or Alex, as in not you guys asking him,
07:25
has he said to you or Alex that he would like an opportunity to play first base?
07:31
Yeah, I think it's probably best just to keep those internal conversations internal.
07:36
You know, I understand why there's a lot of attention on this,
07:38
and we need to figure out both, you know, kind of the shorter-term
07:42
and long-term solution there at first.
07:44
But, you know, I think it's important that the conversations we're having internally stay internal.
07:48
What would be, you would say, would be the most difficult thing for anybody who's playing the position first base
07:54
that they would have to learn or might present the biggest problem when you are a first baseman?
08:03
Yeah, I think in this case, you know, there are probably two things.
08:08
One would be because, you know, someone like Devers is coming from a DH role,
08:14
and, you know, granted, he hasn't been doing it for all that long,
08:17
but it did take a period to acclimate where he was going from being engaged in the field every inning
08:23
to now trying to figure out what his routine looks like to be prepared for, you know, three, four, five at-bats a night.
08:28
So that would represent a change.
08:31
And then I think the other thing, as it relates specifically to first base,
08:34
is not so much the catching the ball, the footwork around the bag, the fielding the ball.
08:39
It's the more nuanced plays to understanding, like, what is your range,
08:43
which are the balls that you go after, and which do you leave for the second baseman,
08:47
and then being in the right place with respect to cutoffs and relays
08:52
and, you know, making sure that the responsibilities that go beyond just catching the ball
08:57
with your foot on first base are covered.
08:59
Do your analytics guys have any insight into who will be the next pope, by chance?
09:08
That is not currently on their list of tasks for the next week or two.
09:13
So, yeah, once we get the first base situation sorted out, we can follow up on that one.
09:18
And we'll know about that.
09:19
There will be some kind of smoke or something that comes out of Fenway Park.
09:24
Yes.
09:25
Yes.
09:25
We were thinking about using the smoke to indicate who will play first.
09:31
I like it.
09:32
All right.
09:33
Craig, thank you, as always, and we will talk to you again very soon.
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