Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes will be out indefinitely as he rests an inflamed left hip.
"We don't want it to hurt anymore," Barnes told reporters before the Red Sox played the Astros on Saturday at Fenway Park. "I don't think that's fair to the team to go out there and to be pitching at anything less myself or the team thinks I'm capable of."
Barnes (5-3, 3.39, 1.200 WHIP) pitched Monday in Atlanta but said the injury has been bothering him for about a week and a half. He had two scoreless outings before being shut down, but in two previous outings, he allowed six runs in 1 1/3 innings. He had a 9.64 ERA in 9 1/3 innings in August.
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"When we feel the symptoms aren't there, then we'll see what's next," manager Alex Cora said before the game. An MRI Thursday revealed the inflammation.
Cora said Joe Kelly, Ryan Brasier - who were hit hard in the seventh and eighth innings in a 6-3 loss to Houston on Friday - and Heath Hembree would handle the late innings ahead of closer Craig Kimbrel in the ninth, with matchups determining a lot of their usage.
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"They do feel that with rest, he’s going to feel better, and he’s going to be feeling better in the long run," Cora said. "I guess we’ll stay with that as of now and see how he reacts to it and then we’ll see if we have to do something else."