Craig Breslow Makes Stance Clear On Red Sox Pitching Staff Ahead Of Offseason

Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow believes the team needs to add more depth to its pitching staff this offseason.

Boston made a bold move last offseason to acquire Garrett Crochet to be the team’s ace. However, Breslow believes the team needs to add more pitching and will be aggressive this offseason in pursuit of it.

“No one will sit in this seat and say that there’s enough pitching in the organization,” Breslow said at a press conference on Monday.

“I think we saw that in the second half and we could list out the pitchers that were on the IL and it just means that depth is so critically important,” Breslow added. “So, like I said, when we talk about pursuing opportunities to improve the team, bringing in (additional) pitching certainly is one of them.”

Dustin May, Steve Matz, and Justin Wilson are all pending free agents, while Lucas Giolito and Liam Hendricks have mutual options.

If the Red Sox do lose some of them in free agency, Boston will need to add more pitching. A starter is also a need, according to Breslow, as he’d like to add a starter to fit in between Crochet and Brayan Bello.

“I think what I would say is that we need to figure out ways to improve the team and that could take a number of shapes,” Breslow said. “Every team gets better if you can bring in a starter or develop a starting pitcher that could pitch at Garrett Crochet’s level, right?

“There’s no running from that, and we’ll be as aggressive as we can in chasing that down while also ensuring that we’re doing everything we can to develop our players internally,” Breslow added.

The Red Sox were eliminated in the Wild Card Series by the New York Yankees.