Alex Cora thinks he has gotten to the bottom of what is wrong with Matt Barnes.
The Red Sox pitcher was placed on the 15-day injured list June 1 after struggling to begin the 2022 Major League Baseball season. Barnes hasn't quite found his form dating back to the second half of 2021. He dominated the first half, even being named an All-Star and earning an extension with Boston, but it's been downhill since.
Cora provided an update ahead of the Red Sox's middle game against the Oakland Athletics, and hinted at what has gone wrong for Barnes.
"A little bit of fluid. Nothing out of the ordinary," Cora told reporters, per WEEI's Rob Bradford. "I think, honestly, what really happened was he started doing other stuff to try and get the velocity back. Other kinds of exercises, whatever. Doing that and pitching doesn’t match. We’re pushing this guy to be the guy we want at the big league level doing different stuff and that was probably the setback. But knowing how he feels, hopefully it’s something that is 15 days or whatever it is and he can be back with us as soon as possible."
Hopefully an IL stint will do the trick because it certainly would be beneficial to be able to trust Barnes out of the bullpen.
The Red Sox return to action Saturday afternoon in Oakland. First pitch is set for 4:07 p.m. ET.
