Alex Cora wasn’t shy to say that Matt Barnes’ velocity was an area of concern as the Red Sox prepare for their 2022 Major League Baseball season.
The Boston closer was reaching between 92-93 mph against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, but Cora believes they got to the bottom of the issue and he used quite the analogy to break it down.
“We kind of found something mechanically that hopefully it’s what gets him going,” Cora told reporters Sunday, per The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. “I think it’s something about his leg kick. Last year he was a lot tighter. Now he’s like loose. If you want to use a reference, it’s like a figure skater. When you open, it slows down. When you close, you’re actually faster, quicker.
“So hopefully that’s what gets him going. Kind of engaged in his delivery. And then he doesn’t have to create. Right now, mechanically he’s so off and then he tries to create velocity and it’s not there.”
Barnes was dominant in the closing position for the Red Sox in the first half of 2021. He almost was unhittable but fell apart after the All-Star break and just couldn’t seem to get it together, allowing 12 earned runs over the course of his final 16 appearances.
The Red Sox certainly would benefit from Barnes returning to form from the first of the 2021 season especially given the fact there are a lot of questions surrounding their pitching this year.
Boston opens its regular season Thursday on the road against the New York Yankees.
