FORT MYERS, Fla. -- With Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel departing the Red Sox for free agency, the team was left with a gigantic hole. Who’s going to be the fireman? The closer? The guy assigned to get the final three outs? Bullpen ace?

The clear-cut favorite is Matt Barnes, the former first-round Draft choice who has improved each year since his Major League debut in 2014.

He made his debut appearance of the spring on Saturday against the Mets in a 10-2 loss, and it wasn’t pretty.

Three of the first four batters he faced in relief of Eduardo Rodriguez in the fifth inning had extra base hits, and he wild-pitched Brandon Nimmo in from third.

Barnes said pitching in a save situation is much different than an appearance in the seventh or eighth inning.

“I’ve had the opportunity to do it a couple times. It is different," he said. "But I think having gone through that postseason run and pitched in big spots -- the ALDS, coming in with runners on; the ALCS, in a situation where if you give up a hit it could be the difference in the game, and then the World Series in general.

“Those are such high-pressure situations that, if I am fortunate enough to be in that role and they trust me in that role and want to give me that opportunity, having gone through everything in the postseason last year, I can’t imagine that a save situation is going to have more pressure or be more high-leverage in the second week in April than Game 3 or Game 4 of the World Series.”

Manager Alex Cora said Barnes and Ryan Brasier are strong candidates to replace Kimbrel, and he also would look at Brian Johnson and Brandon Workman. But, Cora teased that he has a good idea who it will be.

“We still have a lot of days to see how we feel about it,” Cora said. “I don’t think, with the guys that we have, we need them to go out there and strike people out or get people out. We just need them to be ready for March 28.

“Like I’ve been saying all along, we have people that are going to get people out late in games. We’ve just got to make sure everyone is healthy and ready to go for March 28. If that’s the case, we’ll go one way or another, but I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do.”

Dustin history

Dustin Pedroia, who made his second spring training start Saturday, is quietly moving up on career lists.

The second baseman is one of only five active players whose career has spanned at least 14 seasons with just one team. The others are Yadier Molina (16), Felix Hernandez (15), Adam Wainwright (15) and Ryan Zimmerman (15).

Pedroia is coming back from knee surgery in 2018, when he appeared in only three games. He played a planned two innings Saturday and grounded out in his only at-bat.

Sellouts

For the 129th consecutive spring home game, the Red Sox played in front of a sellout crowd Saturday. Attendance was 9,625. Most stayed around until the eighth inning when Tim Tebow batted for the first time. He grounded out to first. This streak includes all 119 games the Red Sox have played at JetBlue Park and the final 10 at City of Palms Park, their home stadium in Fort Myers until 2012.

Up next

The Sox travel to Port Charlotte on Sunday to face division rival Tampa Bay. Rick Porcello is slated to make his spring debut, while Hector Velazquez, Brandon Workman and Colten Brewer also are scheduled to pitch. The Rays have listed seven pitchers, including Ryne Stanek, who made 29 starts as the team’s opener last season, and Ryan Yarbrough, who won 16 games last season.