I think folks are making a bit too much out of Barnes giving up 2 in the 9th. In that situation the cardinal rule is to throw strikes. And Longoria hits home runs against us in his sleep.
The question is who is Young going to take AB's from, especially since we're getting late in the game and all the guys he might take AB's from are going well.
The simple fact is that if Young is going to hit against all lefties, some of those appearances will come at Benitendi's expense. The only other options are JBJ, Papi or Betts, and who wants any of them out of the lineup?
Yes and no. The 13 games with those teams are very important, but the other 26 are too. Going 7-6 against Baltimore and Toronto and playing .700 ball (or whatever it takes) in the other games is a perfectly acceptable way to get there.
Owens is just the latest chapter in the Sox long-running failure at drafting and developing good pitchers. Hopefully Kopech and Groome can reverse the trend a little.