Coming into 2016, Matt Barnes wasn’t really on people’s radar as someone to keep an eye on. He was just another body in the Red Sox bullpen that had added a closer in Craig Kimbrel and another solid set-up guy in Carson Smith.
Often times, being a middle reliever is an unforgiving position because you aren’t noticed unless you make a mistake and have a bad outing. Andrew Miller changed the game for middle relief this postseason, but that’s a whole different set of circumstance given that he was traded for mid-season and is one of the best in the game.