Barnes (illness) is expected to be activated from the COVID-19 injured list prior to Wednesday's game against the Mariners, Bill Koch of The Providence Journal reports.
Barnes' August struggles led to him losing his firm hold on the closer role before he tested positive for COVID-19 at the end of the month. He was originally expected to make multiple rehab outings in Triple-A before being activated over the weekend, but the latest update indicates that he'll return after just one scoreless inning with Worcester. Boston could try to get Barnes some work in low-leverage innings before putting him in an important spot.