After the MLB All-Star break, the Boston Red Sox started slowly out of the gates, losing seven of their first nine battles with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies and New York Yankees.
Four of those losses came with the Red Sox having a lead late and the bullpen blowing it, and that was one of the key reasons that Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow decided to make relief pitching a priority at the MLB trade deadline.
“Thinking about some of the ways games have played out coming out of the All-Star break, I do think there was some urgency around addressing that,” Breslow said (via. MassLive). “I didn’t feel like waiting for our guys to get healthy was the best path for us.”
On Tuesday, Boston sent a prospect to the Cincinnati Reds for right-handed reliever Lucas Sims and another four prospects to the Los Angeles Angels for right-handed reliever Luis Garcia. Breslow also shared what he liked about those two veterans specifically.
“Both bring a little bit of different repertoires,” Breslow said. “Sims with a pretty dominant breaking ball. A ton of swing and miss. Garcia has been a pretty consistent performer in this league for a really long time. What it does is lengthen our bullpen both from a workload (standpoint) and gives Alex (Cora) more options.”
The Red Sox's bullpen has been overtaxed and injured recently with Chris Martin and Justin Slaten on the injured list. These moves should help the team make a run at the playoffs, and we've already seen Sims do his job against the Seattle Mariners in his debut, tossing 2/3 of an inning and allowing just a walk.
Garcia will meet the team in Texas on Friday for their three-game series against the Texas Rangers.
