FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Heath Hembree is no longer the Red Sox's Kenny Powers.

MassLive.com ran a feature last spring training about how Red Sox fans have joked with the righty reliever on Twitter, telling him he looks like the character Kenny Powers (a major league pitcher) from the show "Eastbound & Down" that aired on HBO from 2009-13.

But Hembree has a cleaner cut this year. He no longer has his long curls. His wife cut his hair a couple of weeks ago.

"I was just ready for a new look," he said. "I woke up every morning with too many knots in my curls. ... I was tired of going, playing catch and spitting hair out of my mouth every time I threw a ball."

Will he maybe grow it back during the season?

"No. I just felt like that was my long hair phase. I always wanted to grow it out. I was just like, 'That's a part of my life where I had long hair.' So it was just my phase. I think I'm going to stay away from it.