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As a veteran of Boston’s bullpen having made his debut in 2014, Matt Barnes took on a new responsibility this season as the closer.
After winning the role in Spring Training, the righty has been a reliable arm for the Red Sox, with a 3.00 ERA in 11 appearances (12 innings), going 4-for-4 in save opportunities entering Tuesday’s series opener vs. the Mets.
His approach in 2021? Working with a quick tempo and attacking the strike zone.
“We’ve been able to put together a really good game plan,” Barnes said. “I’ve said it before this year, we looked at some of the analytical stuff on attacking the strike zone and working quick and forcing guys to kind of make some decisions at the plate. And I’ve taken that wholeheartedly and really tried to use that to my advantage.”
In 2019, Barnes was turning to his curveball more than his fastball for the first time since joining the Red Sox, throwing the curve 656 times compared to the four-seamer 607 times. Barnes said he had a misconception about fastballs, that they were “straight and true and never moved,” which led the right-hander to lean on his curve.
“So when I accepted that and got off of this historical idea that a four-seamer is just completely true and straight, then I was able to understand how and why it played in the zone just as good as my curveball. Which has allowed me to attack the zone more with the fastball and subsequently allows me to get worse swings on both of those pitches out of the zone.”
After 11 appearances, his manager likes the changes he’s seen in his closer.
“He’s been good, he’s been really good,” manager Alex Cora said. “Good fastball, good breaking ball, throwing a lot of strikes. … You know he’s attacking from pitch one. He’s in total control of the situation on the mound and we’re very happy with the way he’s going about it.”
On Wednesday, Nick Pivetta and the Red Sox will face off against Jacob deGrom. The Mets’ ace has pitched to a remarkable 0.31 ERA in four starts this season, striking out 15 batters while throwing a shutout in his last outing vs. the Nationals.
“Well, hopefully we get the lead and they pinch-hit for him,” Cora said. “Although he’s hitting .500 or whatever. But yeah, we’ll be limited, but this is the roster that we have and obviously we’re good with the roster that we have for obvious reasons. As a group, we’ll make decisions based on what we can do and obviously what we cannot do. But it’s two games, you know, get the lead and that will solve all the problems.”
Alex Verdugo was once again out of the starting lineup ahead of Tuesday’s series opener vs. the Mets. After experiencing left hamstring tightness in Saturday’s loss to the Mariners, Verdugo was a late scratch from Sunday’s series finale. Although Verdugo wasn’t starting, Cora said the outfielder is “good to go.”
Christian Arroyo was also out of the lineup, after getting hit by a pitch on his left hand on Sunday.
“A little bit banged up, he’s sore,” Cora said. “You know, he’s available, but obviously you know it has to be in kind of like a ‘perfect situation.’ He can come pinch-run, play defense. Swinging the bat, we’ll see how he feels during the day, but we’d rather stay away from him.”
Cora said the team expects Arroyo to be OK by the time the Red Sox open a four-game series vs. the Rangers in Arlington on Thursday.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced on Tuesday that starting May 10, indoor and outdoor large venues can operate at 25 percent capacity, up from 12 percent. The updated guidelines will allow Fenway Park to welcome around 9,400 fans, starting with their series opener against the A’s on May 11.
Since the start of the season, the Red Sox have hosted between 4,500-4,700 fans per home game, and will play three more at Fenway (vs. the Tigers) before the capacity increases.
“I think we have such an advantage at home with our fans because of how great they are and how hard they make it to play there for visiting teams,” Barnes said. “I’m super excited to get to 25 percent. … I mean that’s incredible, especially coming from nothing last year. I mean 10,000, it’s going to feel like a packed stadium.”