The Boston Red Sox are back. No, not in a bounce-back kind of way. The team was back to Fenway Park for their homestand against the Toronto Blue Jays. Just to add, that opening game ended in the Red Sox’ brutal 9-0 loss. Could this be the Devers curse? Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow answered that question in his way just hours before Friday’s game.

He emphasized that Rafael Devers’ trade didn’t mean waving a white flag on a disappointing season. Even if many believed so, for Breslow, that was not the case. Then what is it? Apparently, even if the team’s current record is 40-42, they are still going to contend without giving up.

First things first, Breslow circled three areas that needed some fixing—another bat for the lineup, bullpen reinforcement and starting pitchers. For the team’s current bullpen, he emphasized how good they’ve been, but he said, “we’ve asked a lot of them.” Certainly.

For the same, Breslow’s plan is actually to take the load off guys like Justin Wilson, Greg Weissert, and Garrett Whitlock. To make that happen, Breslow wants to get Jordan Hicks into the mix.

Hicks started his second rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester this Friday. He is expected to return to the team soon. In fact, Harrison is also likely to be in the mix during the second half.

Next, it has been Breslow’s top priority to add starting pitchers. “We have some depth built up, but whether it’s injury or performance, we just haven’t gotten that run of consistent deep starting pitching.” As he said that, he also acknowledged Garrett Crochet’s contribution throughout the first half of the season.

Coming to offense, the Red Sox have clearly looked off without Devers’ bat. Across 20 games, their average was 2.8 runs per game and a .184 batting average. For some fixing, the Red Sox are expecting Alex Bregman and Mastaka Yoshida back in the lineup after the All-Star break that is still a fortnight away. Additionally, Breslow will also be exploring the trade market for an explosive bat in the mix.

How will Cora and Breslow approach the trade deadline?

Turns out, Craig Breslow and manager Alex Cora have a sharp clarity ahead of this trade deadline. While Breslow knows the key areas that need help, he will be much more careful this time after last year’s trade deadline experience.

Last season, Breslow acquired starter James Paxton, right-hander Danny Jansen and relievers Luis Garcia and Lucas Sims. All these acquisitions either offered little to no help in the second half last year or ended up injured. To not let history repeat, Breslow will be much more cautious this year.

He emphasized that the Boston Red Sox got out of trade deadline with players who addressed their respective spots. However, then he disappointingly said, “Whether they work out or they don’t, the moves are going to be evaluated by the performance over the second half of the season. Ours didn’t work out.”

Breslow added, “It’s not OK to just say, ‘Hey, that’s baseball.’” Time and again, if anything goes wrong, the players or managers are often told so. Particularly after Devers’ trade, with the team looking fragile, Breslow won’t care if the player is well known or not. All that matters to him is to get the team’s lost stability back.

Meanwhile, manager Alex Cora made an observation. He has noted that the team was close in many games. He believes one player, one pitch and one play has the power to stack the win even when stakes are high. “We have to improve,” he admitted. Clearly, the Red Sox will go to all lengths to change the odds.