2021 Red Sox Preview: Matt Barnes

 Background:

Somehow Matt Barnes is now the longest tenured reliever on the Red Sox. A first-round pick from 2011, Barnes has had a variety of roles within the organization - a top prospect, starter, setup man on a championship club, "fireman" reliever - to name a few. Entering 2021 he might add another to the list - closer.

Barnes is talented. Among qualified relievers he has the fourth highest K/9 over the past three seasons. Only Aroldis Chapman, Edwin Diaz, and Josh Hader have performed better in this category. Yet for all the success he has missing bats, Barnes struggles badly with his control at times. His walk rate has been bottom 10th percentile or worse over the past three years.

2020:

Last season Barnes had another issue - he was getting hit hard. After mainly avoiding hard-hit damage in 2018 and 2019 (at the expense of walks), Barnes was getting shelled in 2020. And he was still walking people. He attributes his struggles to the stop-and-start nature of the shortened season, which affected many other players around the league as well.

Specifically, Barnes noted that the first month of 2020 felt more or less like spring training. If you want to take a positive outlook on Barnes' season, you could buy this narrative. Following the trade that sent Brandon Workman to the Phillies, Boston's new closer posted a 3.38 ERA and converted 9-of-12 save chances. Before the trade he had a 5.59 ERA.

Contract Situation:

Barnes will earn $4.5 million in 2021 before becoming a free agent. There are several more pressing extension possibilities at this time, so expect Barnes to play out his contract this year.

2021 And Beyond:

The last time Alex Cora was manager in 2019 the club went with a "closer-by-committee" approach. Of course, the experiment failed, which has led to Cora saying he wants to name a closer for this season. He hasn't yet, though. Barnes has his warts but he's also the most logical option to handle ninth inning duties. Cora's only decision will be if he sees Barnes more valuable in a setup, "fireman" role.

Something else to consider is that the Sox have greatly overused Barnes in recent years. From 2017-19 he appeared in 70 games twice, and last year he appeared in 24-of-60 contests. Being used as a more traditional closer would theoretically lead to Cora not relying on him too much.