Why Red Sox prospect Craig Breslow thinks he can be a “legitimate starting pitcher” after being acquired from the Royals

Why Red Sox prospect Craig Breslow thinks he can be a “legitimate starting pitcher” after being acquired from the Royals.

The Red Sox, according to Breslow, “identified [Sandlin] early on as someone that we think is on the rise.”

Although the Red Sox probably made a trade on Saturday that would weaken their bullpen in 2024, Craig Breslow believes that the player they acquired from the Royals, John Schreiber, has upside potential.

Breslow claims that the Red Sox were considering minor league pitcher David Sandlin, who they received in exchange for Schreiber. Red Sox manager Alex Cora stated in a statement to reporters on Saturday that the Royals were “pushing hard” to acquire Schreiber, which would allow the Sox to sign Sandlin.

Craig Breslow told reporters on Saturday that “we had identified [Sandlin] early on as someone that we think is on the rise, has the makings of a legitimate starting pitcher.” “We’ve seen the stuff take a pretty significant step forward, and we loved the stuff and the makeup.”

Although Sandlin, 23, has only pitched at the Single-A level thus far, his first complete season in the minors saw him pitch well. Over the course of 12 starts with Single-A Columbia last season, the righty was 4-1 with a 3.38 ERA, 79 strikeouts, 13 walks, and 57 hits in 58 2/3 innings. Later in the season, he made two additional starts for High-A Quad City, going 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA.

Breslow is impressed by the makeup and potential of the Red Sox’s newest prospect, Sandlin, who the Royals selected out of Oklahoma in the 11th round of the 2022 MLB Draft. Sandlin put up some impressive numbers in A-ball.

“I played amateur fastball in the early 1990s. Pro ball has seen speeds of up to 98–99 mph, according to Breslow. Pitches between 95 and 97 mph, a solid breaking ball, and a [change-up] that has potential for improvement. Therefore, it was a blend of unprocessed data, forecasts, and an opportunity to slightly adjust utilization and enhance efficiency.

As he begins his second full season in the minors, Sandlin is seen as a rising star in the prospect rankings. He was recently listed by Baseball America as one of the three Royals farm system breakout prospects, while earlier in February, Keith Law of The Athletic ranked Sandlin as the team’s seventh-best prospect.

The cost to acquire Sandlin wasn’t insignificant, though. Schreiber has been one of their most frequently used arms out of the bullpen over the last two seasons, making 110 total appearances since the start of the 2022 season. He was also effective in his role as one of the Red Sox’ setup men, particularly in 2022 when he had a 2.22 ERA in 65 innings pitched over 64 appearances.

Breslow admitted it was tough to move off Schreiber, but he also likes what the Red Sox have in terms of right-handed arms out of the bullpen moving forward.

Every time you make a trade like this, you have to acknowledge that you’re giving up a very good pitcher in Schreiber, and that was challenging, Breslow said. It wasn’t an easy choice, but as I previously stated, I believe it is my responsibility to act in the organization’s best interests, and I believe this was an opportunity to do so.

Breslow continued, “I believe we discussed our right-handed relief depth for a while.” We have great feelings and confidence in that, and we believe there is a need to add more starting pitching depth when the chance arises. This, I believe, was one instance of an opportunity to do so.

Even though the Red Sox traded Schreiber on Saturday, there have been rumors of them possibly trading their two top relievers in recent weeks. They’ve reportedly taken calls on Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin as a possible means to shed salary.

Beyond Jansen and Martin, the other possible right-handed pitchers who could have top roles out of the bullpen will likely come down to what they do with their starting rotation. Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock, and Josh Winckowski are among the three right-handed pitchers battling for a spot in the starting rotation who also have experience working out of the bullpen.