Red Sox Notes: Why Alex Cora Didn’t Use Matt Barnes In Loss To Yankees

The Boston Red Sox are carrying 15 pitchers on their roster and used seven of them in Friday’s Opening Day loss to the New York Yankees.

Matt Barnes, however, was not one of them.

Manager Alex Cora revealed in spring training that Barnes found “something mechanically” and was hopeful it was fixed after a dreadful ending to the 2021 Major League Baseball season.

Barnes was lights out for the first half of last season and nearly unhittable, but after the All-Star break things unfolded and he even was getting left off postseason rosters. Cora didn’t name a specific closer to begin the new season, but many thought we’d at least get a look at Barnes during Friday’s game.

Instead, Cora elected to use Garrett Whitlock, Hanel Robles, Ryan Brasier, Kutter Crawford and Jake Diekman.

So, what was the reason?

“He has a tight back so he was unable to (pitch),” Cora said after the game, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage.

Cora noted Barnes felt the tightness Thursday and will be further evaluated Saturday.

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Here are some other notes from Friday’s Red Sox-Yankees game:

— Xander Bogaerts left the game in extras after sliding into second base on an inning-ending double play. He was seen grabbing his hamstring as he hobbled off the field. He said after the game that he felt it during his final at-bat.

Cora said on NESN’s postgame coverage that the shortstop is dealing with a tight hamstring and is hopeful the Red Sox won’t need to make a roster move. Bogaerts will get tests done Friday and the Sox will know more Saturday.

Bogaerts, however, did acknowledge what he felt wasn’t a “normal feeling,” but was optimistic he would be in the lineup Saturday for Game 2 against New York.

“I don’t know what it was. It wasn’t good, though,” Bogaerts said. “I tried to do whatever to not feel it and it kind of went away for a little bit. It was a good sign. It wasn’t a normal thing that happens every day.”

— Garrett Whitlock pitched well in 2 1/3 innings of work with his only mistake coming in the eighth via a DJ LeMahieu game-tying home run.

“One mistake and it’ll come back to bite you,” Whitlock said on NESN’s postgame coverage.

There certainly is no reason to panic about Whitlock. Overall he looked solid and had four strikeouts.

— Nathan Eovaldi went five innings in his third straight Opening Day start. The righty was done after five innings, three earned runs, seven strikeouts and one walk. The three runs, though, came by way of three home runs.

“I felt good,” Eovaldi said. “I felt like I was commanding the zone.”

For what it’s worth, Eovaldi’s splitter looked absolutely filthy.

— Speaking of walks, the Red Sox pitchers as a whole kept them at a minimum with four on the afternoon.

— Trevor Story had a less-than-ideal debut with the Red Sox going 0-for-5. He admitted postgame that he felt his timing was off, but that could very well be due to having limited at-bats in spring training.

— The offense went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position, highlighted by Christian Vázquez striking out with the bases loaded.

The Red Sox will need to take advantage of scoring opportunities whenever they get the chance. This was an issue in 2021 and with the pitching being a big question, the Red Sox will be relying on this offense to help them win games.

— Boston and New York play Game 2 of a three-game set Saturday at Yankee Stadium. Nick Pivetta is set to make his 2022 debut. First pitch is at 4:05 p.m. ET on NESN.