BOSTON - With Steven Wright forced to go on the 7-day concussion DL after being hit in the neck with a batting practice baseball, the Sox found themselves scrambling to find a starting pitcher to fill his Monday slot.
But when Matt Barnes was scratched from his Saturday start in Pawtucket, it was a big hint that he would be the guy.
Red Sox interim manager Torey Lovullo confirmed that was the case before Saturday's game against the Mariners.
Barnes, formerly a reliever with the Sox this season, will get the ball as the starter on Monday.
"We want to split up our lefties so we didn't push anybody around," Lovullo said, "we kept everybody in line and he's going to slot in there for us on Monday."
He had just started being used as a starting pitcher again down with the PawSox. His last two appearances have been starts, lasting 3.1 innings (75 pitches) and 4.2 innings (91 pitches), respectively. He allowed just one run in his last start on six hits, three walks, and five strikeouts.
"We've asked a lot of him moving back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen but he's very capable of that," Lovullo said. "His last start, the word we got from player development that it was aggressive, he was throwing a lot of his pitches in the zone and doing a good job. He's been stretched out well enough that he can go out there and hopefully give us close to 100 pitches."
With Wright not expected to be on the disabled list long, and Rick Porcello close to returning as well, this seems more like a spot start than anything else. But Lovullo made it clear that the Sox do still see Barnes as a starter in the major leagues, despite the fact they've used him in a relief role.
"He's been a proven starter at the minor league level," Lovullo said. "Player development has recommended that this is a guy that could be a very qualified major league starting pitcher, but out of necessity we had to move him to the bullpen. So I think these young players, we all look at them in different ways and when you have the stuff that he has you just try to get him to the big league level and contribute in whatever gap he can fill. This case it was a reliever for a period of time but we've always viewed him as a starter so we're going to get him up here and we're anxious to see what he can give us."
Wright's DL stint (retroactive to Aug. 14) opened a roster spot for another PawSox player, Garin Cecchini. Cecchini arrived to the Sox clubhouse on Saturday morning all smiles.
It's Cecchini's first trip to the majors this season. He's having a bit of a down year with the PawSox, batting just .218 with six home runs and 25 RBI. But he has turned things around at the plate as of late, batting .284 over his last 32 games dating back to July 7. Cecchini has played primarily in left field this season (57 games), while also seeing time at third base (19 games) and first base (14 games).
"The at-bats have been getting better throughout the course of the year." Lovullo said. "But we know what he's all about. Sometimes the at-bats and the quality of the at-bats don't determine whether you're going to have a great call-up or a great situation here at the big league level. But I know that he's energized, he's excited, and he's going to fill a void for us. I don't know where we're going to put him. We may put him at left or first, but he's going to play a backup role at this point."