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GM: Red Sox too talented not to rebound

OAKLAND -- Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington remains confident in his team, despite its disappointing start.

"There's a lot of talent, and I'm confident we'll be better," said Cherington.

In particular, Cherington is convinced Boston's offense will soon kick it into gear.

"We haven't clicked offensively yet as a team," said Cherington. "I still think we will. We have too many good players for the offense not to click as a group, so that will happen. There have been a couple of little chunks of times in the schedule already where [manager] John [Farrell] hasn't had the full complement of players, and one of the things this team is built on is having deep lineups on any given night. So that's one of the things we're trying to get to, having a group of players that gives John an opportunity to have that. I think the offense is going to be fine."

The pitching staff has obviously been a huge concern, and pitching coach Juan Nieves was relieved of his duties last week and replaced by Carl Willis.

"We're judged by the results," said Cherington. "Thirty-one games in, our record isn't what we want it to be, but it's 31 games. We've got a lot of season to play good baseball, and I'm confident we will. ...

"We need good pitching to win games. The question is to how to get it and how to create that. I believe we have a lot of solutions here already. We continue to find any way to get better. We knew we needed good pitching coming into the year to win games, and we still know that.

"I believe we'll pitch better, and I believe we have a lot of the solutions here already. We're trying to create some stability around that group. We lost two catchers in Spring Training and one earlier in the season, so that's a change effects pitching to some degree. We obviously changed the pitching coach, and we want to see this group have a chance to perform with some stability around it. We believe they'll perform well. Look, we're always looking for ways to get better, and we'll continue to do that as we get deeper into the season."

Despite the disappointing start, Cherington appreciates the support he continues to receive from ownership.

"We talk a lot," said Cherington. "They care about the results; I care about the results; we all care about the results. We're always trying to find solutions to the issues that we have, trying to find ways to get better. But they've been very supportive. In any form of leadership, there's a healthy balance of support and urgency, and I think that's what we feel. That's what you want to feel is that combination."

Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Brownie Points, and follow him on Twitter @IanMBrowne.
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