Cora not naming a closer
But the skipper hopes Barnes claims it
NEW YORK — The Red Sox will enter the season without a closer, manager Alex Cora said Thursday.
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Matt Barnes, who was an All-Star closer last year but fell apart in the second half and was left off the playoff roster, has been throwing with decreased velocity this spring, sitting in the low90s with a fastball that usually hits the high-90s.
Cora said he’ll play the matchups early in the year, but is hoping to get Barnes back into form.
“Perfect-case scenario, we get that guy from the first half last year,” Cora said. “We get Barnsey because he was at that moment, he was the best reliever in baseball and we can get him back.”
Having Barnes start the season slowly wouldn’t be the worst for the Sox, given his history of starting well and fading at the end of the season.
He had a 2.61 ERA with 68 strikeouts in 38 innings before being named an AllStar for the first time in his career last July, but finished with a 6.48 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 16M innings in the second half.
The Sox are expecting his velocity to come back to normal.
“I think we made some adjustments the last few weeks, the last few days,” Cora said. “And he feels like the fastball will come back. When? Maybe tomorrow, maybe Saturday, maybe Sunday, whenever it comes. You’ll know if he gets that back. That will be great for us.
“He was amazing, for the first three-quarters of the season last year. We extended him for a reason. And we trust him. It’s just a matter of getting the stuff back to where it should and if he does that, hopefully it’s him.”
Opening Day roster
Some familiar faces are back on the Opening Day roster.
Former Red Sox Jackie Bradley Jr. and Travis Shaw have returned after stints with the Milwaukee Brewers, and both made the roster. Shaw is likely to platoon with Bobby Dalbec at first base, while Bradley will get the bulk of the starts in right field, a new position for him as he roamed center during the majority of his first stint with the Red Sox.
Reliever Hansel Robles got a late start in spring training, but Cora thinks he had enough time to get into game-form and the Sox will roll with him in their bullpen to start the season.
“Stuff wise, we saw what he did last year,” Cora said of Robles, who had a 3.60 ERA with the Sox and finished the season with 15 consecutive scoreless outings. “He has a good slider, good fastball and he’s a workaholic. … He’s healthy.”
In other roster moves, left-hander Josh Taylor was placed on the 10-day injured list with a back strain while right-hander Tyler Danish was optioned to Worcester and right-handers Eduardo Bazardo and Ralph Garza Jr.
were designated for assignment. The Rays claimed Garza almost immediately.
The Sox’ Opening Day roster, which can included 28 players until May 2, when the roster shrinks to 26, is as follows:
Pitchers (15): Barnes, Ryan Brasier, Kutter Crawford, Austin Davis, Jake Diekman, Nathan Eovaldi, Rich Hill, Tanner Houck, Nick Pivetta, Robles, Hirokazu Sawamura, Matt Strahm, Phillips Valdez, Michael Wacha, Garrett Whitlock
Catchers (2): Kevin Plawecki, Christian Vazquez
Infielders (6): Jonathan Arauz, Xander Bogaerts, Dalbec, Rafael Devers, Shaw, Trevor Story
Outfielders (3): Bradley, J.D. Martinez, Alex Verdugo
Infielder/Outfielders (2): Christian Arroyo, Kiké Hernandez
Injured list (3): James Paxton, Chris Sale, Taylor
Extra rest early on
Because of the shortened spring training, Cora plans to offer his players extra rest early in the season.
Newly acquired second baseman Trevor Story will play all three games this weekend, but will have Monday and Thursday off next week. Dalbec will play all weekend but get Monday off.
“We have our program, we know what we’re going to do,” Cora said. “We always are very proactive as far as taking care of players and using today to their advantage.”
Eovaldi, who is making his third consecutive Opening Day start, said he thinks the short spring training will hurt the hitters more than the pitchers.
“I feel ready to go,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like spring training is more for the hitters, since they can’t face pitchers like us in the winter. They need to be able to see it and adjust their swings. I was able to get all my work in this offseason. I came into spring training with the right mindset of where I want to be with my mechanics. I was fortunate enough to not be battling too much mechanically.”
Whitlock was likely to be used in a multi-inning role this weekend, but it sounded like Cora might save him to make sure he’s ready to pitch in that role behind No. 5 starter Rich Hill on Tuesday against the Tigers.