FORT MYERS, Fla. - It is a rite of passage for professional baseball players, having a name inscribed on your bat. It not only helps you separate your piece of lumber from the others, but it also contributes to the cache that comes with this sort of existence.
But there, propped up in the Red Sox' dugout, one bat separates from the others. It's the one that reads "Barrel Man".
"Oh, yeah. That belongs to Barrel Man," said Red Sox infielder Bobby Dalbec matter-of-factly. "He's Barrel Man."
Evidently, this has become common knowledge. Jamie Westbrook is Barrel Man.
"It's a nickname, but it's extremely fitting," said Red Sox hitting coach Pete Fatse. "There is a reason he is the Barrel Man."
So, who is this player who has established the kind of reputation that leads to perhaps the best nickname of Red Sox camp? He is a 28-year-old who hasn't made it past Triple-A after being drafted by the Diamondbacks in the fifth round in 2013.
Standing at just 5-foot-7, Westbrook immediately offers intrigue considering he popped 21 home runs for the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last season, finishing with an .897 OPS over 117 games.
For Red Sox followers, the member of the 2021 United States Olympic Silver Medal baseball team has some New England roots, having grown up in Western Massachusetts until the age of 10.
But it is the nickname - and its origins - which has already helped separate Westbrook in his quest to make the Red Sox.
"I got traded to Detroit in 2022 and it was my first time being traded and I was just a little uncomfortable," said Westbrook, who started at third base for the Red Sox in their first Grapefruit League game, Sunday, and went 2-for-2 against the Braves Monday. "I wasn’t doing great. But I knew I could hit. We were in Columbus and I was like, ‘Today is the day.’ I hit a home run in my first at-bat and I just lost it. I started yelling, ‘I’m the Barrel Man! Me! Me! Me! I’m the Barrel Man!’ My teammates, who didn’t really know me, was like, what is with this guy? Then the next three at-bats it was barrel, barrel, barrel. It kind of stuck. It started as a joke but … I’m not trying to be arrogant or cocky and it’s a funny nickname, but it just reminds me that if I put the barrel on the ball I will be alright.
"That day there was that extra adrenaline after you hit a home run. It was a sigh of relief that I put a good swing on a ball. I was all over the barrel, so I was the Barrel Man. That’s what it was going to be."
Sure enough, science would suggest the nickname was a perfect fit.
"It’s good the analytics match that," he said. "I wasn’t sure of that, but from self-evaluation I knew I could put the barrel on the ball a little bit. Last year with the Yankees they were able to show the analytics and it all matched up. The nickname is funny, yes. But it is also something I do well and it’s a reminder and keeps it loose. At times if you’re doubting yourself or you’re not feeling it that day, hey, you’re the Barrel Man. Put the barrel on the ball and that’s all you can do."
So, how did this skill come about? Westbrook has a pretty good guess.
"My dad used to throw such bad BP in the hot summers in Arizona that if you were taking pitches he would get mad because he is out there sweating so I just kind of learned from a young age to put the barrel on all of them and I think it definitely helps me," the infielder explained.
"I guess I have to also thank my mom because I have big strong legs. I guess that's where the power comes from."
"I grew up in Massachusetts and there were a lot of fields with no fences so the ball just rolled. But then when I was 10 and moved to Arizona and popped one over the fence and thought, 'That's pretty cool.' I didn't yell (Barrel Man) quite then, but maybe it was foreshadowing of what was to come."