Analyzing the level of concern for five struggling Red Sox

Red Sox RP: Matt Barnes

0-3, 7.18 ERA, 4.8 BB/9, 7.1 K/9

For the rest of the players on this look, I took a deep dive into the numbers to see if there was some underlying reason for their struggles. This will not be the case for Matt Barnes, because it doesn’t take a math degree to figure out why he is struggling. All it takes is a working set of eyes.

The pitcher who steps on the mound in increasingly low-leverage situations for the Boston Red Sox is almost unrecognizable from the All-Star closer of 2021. His fastball has lost over a tick and a half of velocity from last year, and is getting battered to the tune of a .385 batting average and .692 slugging. His curveball has lost over two miles per hour and 200 rpms from last year and is inducing swings-and-misses at a fraction of the rate.

Any of the four previous names mentioned have hope of turning it around. Verdugo has gotten unlucky, Story is starting to pick things up, Hernandez’s approach remains solid, and Dalbec is still young.

There is no such hope for Barnes. At 31, there’s little chance he regains the sharpness on his pitches, and without a functional changeup or any movement on his fastball, it’s extremely hard to see Barnes being more than a mop-up reliever ever again.