Nationals Designate Hurler For Assignment After Spending First Nine Seasons In Boston

The homegrown right-hander has hit the waiver wire

Scott Neville | May 7, 2024

Apr 20, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; A detailed view of the Washington Nationals / Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY Sports

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox have made some notable changes to the pitching staff since chief baseball officer Craig Breslow took the reigns of baseball operations over the offseason.

The majority of those changes came to the bullpen, including the additions of Chase Anderson, Isaiah Campbell, Cooper Criswell, -- who has since moved into more of a spot starter role -- Liam Hendriks (injured), Justin Slaten, Naoyuki Uwasawa, Greg Weissert as well as some depth outside the 40-man roster.

Breslow's predecessor made similarly drastic changes over his last couple of years, leaving former staples of the Red Sox's pitching staff scattered across Major League Baseball. One of the more notable departures was right-hander Matt Barnes, who was traded to the Miami Marlins for Richard Bleier two offseasons ago.

Barnes has since joined the Washington Nationals, intending to get his career back on track. Unfortunately, the right-hander received some bad news on Tuesday.

"The Nationals have returned left-handed pitcher Robert Garcia from rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 15-day injured list," the team announced. "The Nationals have designated right-handed pitcher Matt Barnes for assignment."

Barnes posted a 6.75 ERA with a 10-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .291 batting average against and a 1.50 WHIP in 13 1/3 innings for Washington.

The 33-year-old's peak average fastball velocity came in 2016 when he settled in at 97.4 mph that season. He's currently averaging 91.4 mph, well below his last season in Boston -- 95 mph in 2022.

Bloom was said to have been concerned with Barnes' 2022 underlying analytics before dealing him and has been proven right since.

The veteran hurler's 429 appearances with the Red Sox are the third-most in team history, trailing only Bob Stanley and Tim Wakefield -- posting a 4.07 ERA (112 ERA+) in that span.

More MLB: Ex-Red Sox Pitcher Looking For Another Opportunity Around Trade Deadline

Published May 7, 2024

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu