Red Sox's Matt Barnes: Finds success integrating more offspeed pitches

Barnes plans to throw his offspeed stuff more in 2017, something he experimented with during September and October last season, leading to promising results, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports.

Analysis:

During the first five months of the 2016 season, Barnes threw his four-seamer nearly two-thirds of the time, but adjusted late in the season following a truly disastrous month of August (12 ER in 10.2 IP). He felt his stuff was still good, but the results weren't there. It was at that point he realized the problem was not with his stuff, but in how he used his stuff. Barnes mixed in more curves and sliders, throwing them as often as the four-seamer, and allowed just one run and no extra-base hits over his final 8.2 innings. While Joe Kelly's transition to the bullpen has garnered most of the headlines, Barnes may be positioned to take a step forward in 2017.