Old friend Barnes is healthy
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Matt Barnes was open to returning to the Red Sox on a minor league contract. But the interest wasn’t mutual.
So the 33-year-old righthander signed with the Nationals instead and reported to major league camp on Wednesday.
Barnes had surgery on his left hip in July but was throwing off a mound prior to signing and is ready to compete for a job.
“Excited to get into an organization. Hopefully I can come in and provide some wisdom,” said Barnes, who pitched for the Sox from 2014-22 and was a member of four playoff teams.
Barnes was one of the best and most durable relievers in the game from 2016-21. He had a 3.86 earned run average with 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings and averaged 65 appearances (excluding the shortened 2020 season) during that time.
“I’m healthy and feeling good. I want to show this team that I’m back to being who I was,” Barnes said. “I pride myself on being a guy who can be relied upon.”
The Sox traded Barnes to the Marlins before the 2023 season for lefthander Richard Bleier, who’s also in Nationals camp on a minor league deal.
Barnes said his hip led to his struggling with the Marlins last season. He faced hitters several times indoors this month and hopes to throw in the bullpen in the next day or two.
“I’m excited to get going again,” he said. Barnes was reunited with Jordan Weems, a relief pitcher who started his pro career as a catcher with the Red Sox and caught Barnes in 2012 at Single A Greenville.
Weems caught Barnes in his first professional game. Now they could be teammates again as pitchers.
Barnes also is a first-time father. He and his wife, Chelsea, had a baby boy in the offseason.
Winckowski sharp
Josh Winckowski, who is competing for a rotation spot, opened his campaign with two strong innings against the Nationals. He walked leadoff hitter CJ Abrams in the first inning then retired the next six batters he faced.
The Sox told Winckowski in December that he would be in the mix and he prepared accordingly. It wasn’t much of a change.
“Even last year when I was throwing one inning, I was still throwing like my starter self and using three or four pitches. Just trying to throw a ton of strikes,” he said.
Winckowski is working on a sweeper slider to use as an out pitch to righthanded hitters.
He also feels a “higher urgency” from new pitching coach Andrew Bailey this season. The coaches, he said, are encouraging the pitchers to try new things.
The Sox are using a motion capture system called Kinatrax that shows the pitchers a skeletal image of their delivery. It detects even the smallest deviation.
“That’s the way the game is heading now,” Winckowski said.
Manager Alex Cora thought Winckowski had a particularly good changeup on Wednesday, throwing one to Joey Gallo in the first inning that had him off balance.
“For his first outing, a good one,” Cora said.
Winckowski, Tanner Houck, and Garrett Whitlock are competing to start. The other two will go into the bullpen. Through one turn, they have worked six innings and allowed one run.
“It’s not an easy decision because all of them, they’re not perfect but they’re good,” Cora said. “Whatever decision we make, it’s going to be the correct one for this group.”
Bonaci suspended
Red Sox prospect Brainer Bonaci has been suspended for the season for a violation of the minor league domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse policy, according to industry sources. Bonaci had been placed on the restricted list in October, resulting in his departure from the Arizona Fall League.
Bonaci, 21, split 2023 between High A Greenville and Double A Portland, emerging as a top-10 prospect in the Red Sox system while hitting .297/.354/.464 with 11 home runs and seven stolen bases in 79 games. However, after 16 games in Portland, he was placed on the suspended list and sent home while the league began an investigation into his potential violation, which ultimately resulted in his suspension.
If at first?
The Sox could use a backup first baseman. For now, it’s Bobby Dalbec or Pablo Reyes, who are both on the 40-man roster. Reyes offers more defensive versatility and Dalbec more power. “It’s a matter of being more consistent,” Cora said of Dalbec. Reyes has only two innings of major league experience at first base but did some work there at the Red Sox academy in the Dominican Republic during the offseason . . . Brennan Bernardino, who was out of camp attending to a personal matter, had a live batting practice scheduled for Friday and should be able to get into games after that . . . Cora has been impressed with Nick Sogard ,a26year-old switch-hitting infielder who spent last season with Triple A Worcester. “He’s a steady at-bat; he controls the strike zone; he’s a good defender,” the manager said. “If he was 30, we’d be talking about him as the perfect utility player. He’s going to help us.” ... Nick Pivetta threw two innings in the bullpen in Fort Myers. He’s scheduled to face Tampa Bay in Port Charlotte in Saturday’s split-squad doubleheader . . . Jen Pawol was the third base umpire. She is working spring training games in Florida in preparation for the Triple A season. In-season replacements come from that level, putting Pawol in line to become the first woman to work a regular-season game in the majors.