Craig Andrew Breslow (; born August 8, 1980) is an American baseball executive and former professional baseball pitcher. He is currently the Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox. Breslow pitched for 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Miami Marlins. He also pitched for Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Breslow was selected in the 26th round of the 2002 MLB draft by the Milwaukee Brewers, and debuted in MLB with the Padres in 2005. With the Red Sox, he won the World Series in 2013. He made his final MLB appearance during the 2017 season. As of the end of the 2018 season, he ranked fourth among all active left-handed MLB pitchers in career appearances.
As a senior at Yale University, where he majored in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, Breslow led the Ivy League with a 2.56 earned run average. During his MLB career, he was called the "smartest man in baseball" by reporters at the Minneapolis Star Tribune and The Wall Street Journal. In 2010, the Sporting News named him the smartest athlete on their top 20 list.
Breslow was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and raised in Trumbull, Connecticut. He is Jewish, and attended Hebrew school. His family attended Congregation B'nai Israel in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he had his bar mitzvah in 1993. He has fasted while pitching on Yom Kippur, and noted: "Being Jewish is more difficult in baseball ... but I try to do what I can in terms of paying attention to holidays."
Breslow's father Abe Breslow, an All-American soccer player in college, is a teacher and the former department chair in Physical Education and Health, and boys tennis coach and girls soccer coach, at Trumbull High School. His mother, Ann Breslow, is a math teacher in Bridgeport.
In 1992, when Breslow was 12 years old, his sister Lesley—two years older—was diagnosed with pediatric thyroid cancer, for which she had surgery to remove all of her thyroid gland (a thyroidectomy). "Something as traumatic as that has a lasting impact," Breslow said. "It confirmed my interest [in medicine]. Being a doctor went from being a prestigious profession to something that changes people's lives." The experience led Breslow to take an interest in molecular biophysics and biochemistry. Later in life, Breslow formed a non-profit foundation to help children with cancer.
During his playing career, he was listed at 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) and 185 pounds (84 kg). In 2014, he was inducted into the Fairfield County, Connecticut Sports Hall of Fame.
Breslow attended Trumbull High School in Trumbull, Connecticut, graduating in 1998. He was a standout in baseball and soccer, and served as team captain in both sports during his senior year.
In baseball, he was the winning pitcher in the Class LL State Baseball championship game, playing with teammate and future Arizona Diamondbacks second round draft pick and major league infielder, Jamie D'Antona. He also played in little league with future major league pitcher Charlie Morton. As a senior in high school, Breslow played in the Connecticut/Massachusetts All-Star game at Fenway Park. He was named to the 1998 New Haven Register All-Area team.
In soccer, he helped lead Trumbull High to their first-ever state tournament victory. In 1997, he was named to the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference Boys First-Team Soccer Team. He was known for having an uncanny ability to score from very difficult and wide angles, and ranks among the school's all-time scorers. Scholastically he excelled as well, scoring 1420 on his SAT.
Breslow graduated from Yale University in 2002 with a degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, and gained admission to the NYU School of Medicine, which he deferred.
Breslow was captain of the Yale Bulldogs baseball team in the Ivy League. As a freshman in 1999, he pitched for the Middletown Giants of the New England Collegiate Baseball League; in November 2013 he was inducted into the NECBL's Hall of Fame. As a junior, he led Yale with three victories and led the Ivy League with a 2.61 earned run average (ERA), striking out 66 batters in 51+2⁄3 innings (ranking 13th in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings). He earned All-Ivy honors that season, which included a 16-strikeout performance vs. Cornell, and a one-hit shutout at Harvard. As a senior, he led the Ivy League with a 2.56 ERA.
In 2002, Breslow was named a Jewish Sports Review College Baseball First Team All-American, along with future major leaguers Sam Fuld and Adam Greenberg.
Breslow was drafted in the 26th round (769th overall) of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. Breslow deferred acceptance to the New York University School of Medicine because of his "love of the game". As of July 2017, he had deferred his acceptance to the medical school four times, as he continued to play baseball.
Breslow reached the major leagues in 2005, the first Yale graduate to do so since Ron Darling (1983–95). He pitched his first game for San Diego on July 23, 2005. Breslow was also one of six Ivy Leaguers on major league rosters at the beginning of the 2009 season. In 2012, Breslow and catcher Ryan Lavarnway became the first Yale grads to be Major League teammates since 1949, and the first All-Yale battery in the major leagues since 1883.
Milwaukee Brewers organization (2002–2004)
In 2002, Breslow ranked fifth in the Pioneer League with six wins, going 6–2 with a 1.82 ERA in 23 appearances out of the pen for the Rookie-level Ogden Raptors. He struck out 56 in 54+1⁄3 innings, and limited the opposition to a .218 average. In 2003, he averaged 11+1⁄3 strikeouts per nine innings for the Single-A Beloit Snappers of the Midwest League, fanning 80 batters in 65 innings.
In 2004, Breslow made 23 relief appearances with the Single-A High Desert Mavericks of the California League, going 1–3 with a 7.19 ERA. The Brewers released Breslow during the 2004 season.