We get it. It has been just 10 games. But there are still some developments within this stretch to open the 2021 Red Sox season that are simply too eye-opening to just pass off as a small sample size.
Matt Barnes is one of them.
The Red Sox reliever has evolved into the kind of dominant end-of-game reliever the likes of Jonathan Papelbon, Koji Uehara, and Craig Kimbrel all represented at unforgettable times in their career. He's been that good.
It's an evolution that has become of the more notable storylines during this 7-3 start for Alex Cora's club.
"He feels good about himself and he should because he's throwing the ball really well," Red Sox pitching coach Dave Bush told WEEI.com after the Sox' 4-2 win in Minnesota Tuesday. "He's confident in his stuff in a way I haven't seen before. He has always had a great fastball and a great curveball. Look, everybody kind of evolves into that confidence of who they are as a pitcher. I think that's happening to Matt now, realizing how his stuff plays, where it plays n the strike zone and he has really good pitches he can attack hitters with right away."
This is a guy who has struck out 12 of the 19 batters faced this season, not allowing a single hit while walking just one. And, just for good measure, 23 of the 47 swings taken against him have whiffed.
So, what is the secret?
A quick glance at Barnes' numbers shows that he has been throwing his fastball more than every before, throwing the pitch 64.6 percent of the time compared the 39.1 percent rate he clocked in at the last time the Red Sox played April baseball.
Velocity? While Cora has mentioned the fastball seemed to have a bit of an uptick, Barnes' heater averages about the same miles-per-hour as it did the last few years (right around 96 mph).
There is a difference, however, and it is much simpler than you might think: He is throwing the ball over the plate.
"I don't know if there has been a huge change in his stuff. He has always had a big Velo fastball and a really good hard curveball. I think the biggest change for him is his willingness to throw both pitches in the strike zone a little more often," Bush explained. "Definitely in the past, and he has admitted this, he has been guilty of being too fine and pitch away from contact and I think that's the biggest difference. He's willing to trust his stuff in the strike zone and let it rip.
"I don't know if (using his fastball more) is more by design, but it is definitely getting in the strike zone more. That's been apparent, for sure. In the past he has tried to pitch around the zone too much with both of his pitches. If there was one thing I encouraged him to do is trust that he has two high-quality major-league pitches and he can throw them both in the strike zone and challenge hitters a little more often than he has in the past."
A mind-blowing example of Barnes' prioritizing finding the strike zone was his first-pitch strike percentage. Up until the righty missed with a curveball to Minnesota's Max Kepler with one out in the ninth inning Tuesday, he hadn't led off a single hitter with a ball all season.
In all this season, Barnes has thrown 61 strikes and just 18 balls.
"His stuff is playing very well because of that willingness to attack the strike zone right away," Bush said.
"It's definitely the mindset. With that it opens up some more options for sequencing his pitches. It's hard to pitch when you're behind in the count for everybody, whether you have Matt's stuff or not. He had gotten himself in a lot of behind-in-the-count situations before, forcing him to be really fine and have some longer innings. The willingness to throw strikes early, mix his pitches and be able to work ahead in the count has made things easier for him and allowed him to be more aggressive."
And, yes, Barnes has also added one more thing to his repertoire: A quickened pace.
"That was a point of emphasis during the spring, just having a little better tempo on the mound," the Sox pitching coach relayed. "It's easy to have good tempo when you're ahead in the count all the time. It's usually when guys get behind in the count guys they take their time and walk around the mound. But throwing Strike 1, throwing Strike 2, it's a lot easier to step right back on the mound and be confident to throw the next pitch."
So far, that next pitch has been something for Barnes and the Red Sox to look forward to.