WORCESTER — Lefty Bailey Horn got the opportunity to pick chief baseball officer Craig Breslow’s brain even before the Red Sox acquired him from the White Sox on April 30.
The White Sox initially drafted the 26-year-old pitcher in the fifth round in 2020 out of Auburn, then traded him to the Cubs one year later. Breslow served as Cubs’ director of pitching and later their senior vice president of pitching/assistant GM from 2019-23. He put in place the pitching infrastructure in Chicago’s farm system.
“We had interactions when I was with the Cubs,” Horn said. “He was always around. I got to talk to him a lot. He’s awesome at what he does. A great guy to talk to and just learn from his knowledge.”
Horn, whose fastball has reached 97 mph this season, is on Boston’s 40-man roster but has not yet made his MLB debut. That could change soon.
Horn has thrown 6 scoreless and hitless innings in four outings for Triple-A Worcester so far. He has struck out six and walked three. He had allowed 13 runs in 10 ⅓ innings for White Sox’ Triple-A affiliate Charlotte to begin the season.
The Cubs selected Horn to their 40-man roster Nov. 14, protecting him from being available to other teams in the Rule 5 Draft. They then traded him back to the White Sox on Feb. 27. Baseball America ranked Horn the Cubs’ No. 28 prospect entering spring training and wrote, “His major league debut should come in 2024.”
“Brez was the first guy I talked to once I got traded to the Red Sox,” Horn said. “Just had a lot of excitement and I was ready to get to work over here and get with this club and do the best I can.
“I love the plan,” he added. “They have a great plan for the pitchers here.”
The Red Sox have encouraged him to throw his cutter more often. He threw three cutters in his final five appearances in the White Sox system, per Baseball Savant. He has thrown 28 cutters in his four outings with the WooSox. He threw his cutter 10 times in his second outing, using it more than any other pitch, per Baseball Savant. He threw it 11 times in his outing Tuesday.
“It’s just a good pitch,” Horn said. “It plays off the heater. Just a good pitch to keep the hitters off the four-seam. And then you can go off the cutter as well with different offspeeds: slider, curveball, sweeper.”
His Baseball America scouting report noted, “His fastball sits 94-96 mph, touches 98 and gets swings and misses when he throws it over the plate.”
“Throwing it for a strike in the zone and then just staying behind it and letting it play,” Horn said about his heater. “Just having it carry through the top of the zone, even the bottom of the zone.”
It’s no secret Breslow and pitching coach Andrew Bailey have encouraged Red Sox pitchers to use their offspeed pitches and breaking balls more often.
Horn’s four-seam fastball was the pitch he used most in all nine of his outings for Charlotte this year. With Worcester, he used his four-seamer the most in his first outing, his cutter the most in his second outing, his sweeper the most in his third outing and his cutter the most in his fourth outing.
He calls his cutter “a cutter/gyro.” He has a big sweeper and a “harder and smaller” slider that provides a different look.
He mixed in 10 sweepers Tuesday.
“I picked that (the sweeper) up when I was traded to the Cubs,” he said. “A pitching coach over there showed me that. They were showing a lot of guys. They had a really good understanding of it and how to teach it.”
What does he consider his best secondary pitch?
“I love all my pitches,” Horn said. “I love throwing all of them. It depends on who we are facing, where we are in the lineup, guys on. Just details of the game. But I love throwing all the pitches. I think they all serve a purpose. Throw them at any time.”
Command/control is one thing that he must improve. He has averaged 5.1 walks per nine innings in the minors. The Red Sox have emphasized “throw good stuff in the zone.”
“Staying through the catcher just directionally and arm path, just staying on time, working through the catcher, trying to throw everything through the catcher’s chest,” he said. “And trusting my staff and my coaches just to work on those cues and focus on being in the zone, just moving towards the plate.”
Has it been a crazy year being in three different organizations since the start of spring training?
“Maybe a little bit. It’s just baseball,” he said. “I’m excited to be a part of the Red Sox. Super blessed to be over here, be working with these guys. I guess you could call it a little crazy but that’s just part of the game and I’m super excited to be here. I love it here.”
