Matt Barnes, Chris Sale, and Nick Pivetta work out at FGCU
Thursday morning, Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes captured an Instagram live of Sox pitchers working out and preparing for the (hopefully) upcoming season.
Chis Sale throwing live BP on Matt Barnes IG live.
The instagram live session gave fans what they have been waiting for all off-season. The session included Matt Barnes, Chris Sale, Nick Pivetta, and minor leaguers Jay Groome and Kutter Crawford.
Although it isn’t ideal that the players aren’t able to work out in the teams facilities it sure was interesting to see an inside look at Sox players and prospects taking the mound against live hitters. The live feed showed the Sox players and prospects facing off against FGCU hitters.
In a truly wholesome event this has to be an all time moment for the FGCU players. They get to live out the dream of being able to chat with and face off against top tier MLB players in hopes that one day they can be in the spot that the Sox players are too.
The Sox players are hard to be turned down from the FGCU facilities as they are welcomed with open arms because it is Chris Sales alma mater as well as he donated a brand new scoreboard to the school a few years ago. But let's be real now, who's turning down Chris Sale and the Red Sox from working out at your school? With the college season beginning, I’m sure facing MLB caliber talent will go a long way into the growth of the players and pitchers who get to see and talk to the players in person.
The Red Sox are hoping that after an up and down season in 2021 from Matt Barnes and Chris Sale that the two pitchers can return to form in 2022. For Sale, after recovering from Tommy John surgery, the hope is that he can return in dominant fashion and be the ace of the Red Sox staff that is much needed. For Barnes, the hope is that he can put together a full season as the dominant reliever he was in the first half of 2021 before he fell off a cliff and couldn’t be trusted in the late stages of the season. Both Sale and Barnes being successful are keys to the Red Sox having a successful season in 2022 as they were only two wins away from the World Series in 2021.
While the players are unable to enter team facilities due to the league being locked out it sure was a breath of fresh air being able to watch players begin to get ready for the season. Spring training games were set to begin this coming week but with little to no movement in CBA talks it seems as though players will have to continue their makeshift spring training for the time being.
Hopefully the owners and players can figure out their differences and come to an agreement in CBA negotiations and the season can begin on time. Until then it seems as though players are going to have to go through the route that Barnes, Sale, and Pivetta are, having their own makeshift spring Training.
During Barnes’ instagram live session he and the other players also took the time to answer some fans' questions. While the lockout is horrible for the sport, at least it gave the fans this moment to enjoy seeing the big leaguers get ready for the season up close and personal, to interact with the players and to hear what was actually going on in the workouts.