The Sox bolstered their left-handed relief corps by dealing a right-hander when they acquired Craig Breslow from the Arizona Diamondbacks for Matt Albers and outfielder Scott Podsednik, according to Jack Magruder of FOXSportsArizona.com.
#Dbacks if Breslow to Boston, Corbin scratch makes sense as he would fit in bullpen.
— Jack Magruder (@JackMagruder) July 31, 2012
#Dbacks source confirms Breslow to Boston. Angels also were looking at Breslow, need lefty.
— Jack Magruder (@JackMagruder) July 31, 2012
#Dbacks get Albers and Podsednik.
— Jack Magruder (@JackMagruder) July 31, 2012
It's a return of sorts for Breslow, a Connecticut native and Yale alum who has spent time in the Red Sox organization. The southpaw reliever pitched in 13 games for Boston in 2006.
Breslow, who will turn 32 next Thursday, has made 40 appearances this season. He has a 2.70 ERA in 43 1/3 innings, with batters hitting .233 against him. Lefties actually hit Breslow better than right-handed batters, but he does have 20 strikeouts to just two walks against left-handed hitters.
Some believe that the acquisition of Breslow may open the door for a return to the starting rotation for Franklin Morales as well.
There's also this fun little fact. Breslow is really, really smart. He majored in molecular biophysics, and as a San Francisco Chronicle profile of the Yale alum from 2009 points out, he once helped Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett win a bet when the two were teammates in Boston back in 2006. Breslow supposedly helped Beckett "win a bet with another teammate by calculating the number of times a baseball spins on the way to the plate on various pitches." So there's that.
Albers had been pretty reliable for the Red Sox this season working out of the Boston bullpen. The 29-year-old appeared in 40 games, throwing 39 1/3 innings. He posted a 2.29 ERA and opponents hit just .216 against him. Podsednik's contract was purchased by the Sox from the Phillies back in May. He appeared in 19 games, hitting .387 (24-for-62) before being injured. He has been in Pawtucket since returning from that injury.
Photo via Facebook/Craig Breslow
