Barnes continues dominant start anchoring the bullpen
BOSTON—MattBarneshasbeen one of the best relievers in all of baseball this season. Friday evening’s save against the Angels marked Barnes’ 12th perfect appearance of at least one inning of work. In his last eight appearances he has retired 23 of 24 hitters, backed by 15 strikeouts in that span. Barnes is 9 for 9 in save opportunities, allowing zero runs while holding opponents to an .034 batting average.
Barnes holds a 1.89 ERA in 19 innings and has fanned 33.
Veteran reliever Adam Ottavino knows what it feels like to be on this type of tear.
“You kind of feel like you have a secret,” Ottavino said prior to their second game of a three-game set against the Angels. “Like, I know something that you don’t know and that you’re in big trouble when you face me. Right now, that’s how the hitters are, they’re in big trouble when they face him.”
Ottavino has been in Barnes’s ear during this stretch, wanting him to aim even higher.
“I told him a week ago that he has to get greedy in this situation,” Ottavino said. “Don’t let the foot off the gas just because it’s going easy right now. Put your foot on their neck and get greedy with it and see how far you can take it. It’s still a long season, but the start is off right now. I mean, you can dream a little bit on it.”
Verdugo breaks out of slump: Before Alex Verdugo’s solo shot in the bottom of the first inning Saturday, the outfielder was in a bit of a rut at the plate. He was hitless in his previous 14 at-bats prior to Saturday. In his six previous games, Verdugo was just 2 for 24 (.083), 12 for 53 overall in the month of May.
“It seems like he’s getting beat with fastballs inside, and then change-ups, he’s rolling over,” manager Alex Cora said.
In the month of May, teams have been throwing hard stuff (sinker, cutter, four-seam fastball) middle-in to Verdugo 3.8 percent of the time. In April, that number was just 1.4 percent.
Cora acknowledged that the workload is different for Verdugo, too, who hasn’t played more than 106 games for his career.
“This is something that is different for him, 162 games,” Cora said. “He’s never done that. So we got to take care of him.”
Setback for Arroyo: Christian Arroyo (left hand contusion) took soft toss Friday and didn’t come out of it well.
“It didn’t go great,” Cora said. “He’s not going to take batting practice today. He’s still feeling it towards the end of his swing. Kind of like babying his swing through impact.”
Arroyo won’t be ready for a rehab game just yet, but the team and Cora also think he’s not that far off with a target date of next week. For now, though, Arroyo will have to go through his progression again.
“We have to reset that plan and go from there,” Cora said. “We’ll probably try the same thing, get treatment and go back to tee work and start building again.”
Hernández nearing return: Kiké Hernández is in the WooSox lineup Saturday against Syracuse batting leadoff as the team’s DH. He will play the outfield Sunday. INF/OF Danny Santana is also in the WooSox lineup and hit a two-run homer in his first-at bat. … Cora said Tanner Houck (sore flexor muscle) is feeling “normal” , but it will ultimately be the team doctor’s decision in regards to what normal is. “The fact that he’s feeling that way it’s a positive,” Cora said . ... The Red Sox have begun 35 days in sole possession of first place in the American League East. The Red Sox join the White Sox as the only AL team without a four-plus game losing streak this season.