Craig Breslow

sure you know i think we we talked about the importance of defense we've talked about the importance of balancing out the lineup uh thinking about our our pitching staff um and their ability to you know to manage hard contact um and to keep the ball on the ground um converting balls and playing outs is gonna be something that was really really important to our success i think we've largely addressed that and we've got uh we've got options um you know we'll see how

how camp plays out, but feel confident in the group, you know, and in their ability to help contribute in terms of turning balls and playing outs.

That's important.

We've talked a lot about our outfield defense and how anything that's hit in the air to the outfield that doesn't get out of Fenway, we feel like is going to be caught.

And now we can say the same thing, you know, in terms of converting balls and playing outs in the infield.

Sure.

So we feel confident that there is going to be power that emerges from the group that we have, you know, getting a full healthy season out of Roman and Willie.

And, you know, Wilson Contreras has, you know, been an offensive threat in the lineup and in lineups for a number of years and feel like he's a particularly good fit for our park, given the changes to his offensive profile on over the last year or two.

At the same time, we have to kind of adapt to the market and we have to work backwards from creating the roster that gives us the best chance of winning as many games as possible.

And it's important that we kind of adapt and evolve as options become available to us or we're able to pursue them.

And so as long as we're kind of anchored to this idea that we have to put a winning team on the field, I think we have to be willing to pivot.

And I think we've shown that.

It's been our pursuits were pretty, pretty public at times, but then also the opportunity to really double down on pitching and defense being a strength of this team.

And I think along the way, we've improved our base running.

We talk about the athletic dynamic nature of the roster.

I think it's going to position as well.

Craig, how do you view Marcelo's role on the team this spring, this season?

Is he someone that you see as an everyday player?

Is he someone that you kind of need to see something more from this spring to sort of kind of prove himself health-wise and also position-wise, hitting-wise, all that?

We talked to Marcelo a lot about making sure that he had a really productive offseason where he got bigger and stronger and obviously completely healthy and recovered from the injury that he had at the end of the season.