George Springer had all his homecoming plans laid out last July. He was still in Kansas City, with the Astros wrapping up a series against the Royals, but he had all the tickets set aside for the small army of family and friends that were going to be making the trip the next day from his hometown of New Britain, Conn., to see him play his first game at Fenway Park.

“It was all set up,’’ Springer said.

Then, he took a 95-mile-per-hour fastball off his right wrist and all those plans changed.

By the time the Astros got to Boston, Springer was on the disabled list.

“My friends and my family still came,’’ he said. “That was tough because I had just gotten hurt probably about five hours before the flight. It was tough.’’

Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes was looking forward to seeing Springer as much as anyone. They have been friends since high school. Barnes called Springer as soon as he heard what happened.

“I talked to him after that game,’’ Barnes said. “He told me he got hit in the hand and they thought it was broken. It would’ve been fun to play against him for the first time in pro ball here. His family was here, my family was here. So it’s kind of an unfortunate event.’’

The injury not only cost Springer his first game at Fenway, it kept him out of the lineup for nine weeks.

“It was just harder because I had just gotten hurt,’’ Springer said. “I don’t really look into, ‘Aw, well, I didn’t get a chance to play here. I didn’t get to play there.’ The fact is I didn’t get a chance to play for nine weeks, and that was the hard part.’’

So, this four-game set against the Red Sox feels overdue for Springer. He set tickets aside again on Thursday for the long list of friends and family to see him play his first game at Fenway. Springer went 2 for 4 in the Astros’ 11-1 loss.

“It’s fun to have a shot to play close to home,’’ Springer said. “I’m obviously closer to home and I get a chance to play with my family in the stands and obviously that didn’t happen [last year], so that was tough.’’

As a child, Springer said he and his family would make the drive to Fenway once or twice a month.

“I was always here as a kid because it’s like 80-something miles away from the house,’’ he said. “My dad and mom would always snag us and say, ‘We’re going to go watch a game,’ and head up there.’’

Springer and Barnes have been tight since their days with the Team Connecticut Blue Jays. They spent three seasons together at the University of Connecticut. They played on the same team in the Cape Cod League and on the USA Baseball college national team.

“We were literally together for almost God knows how many days out of the year,’’ Barnes said.

Growing up in New Britain, the town was split between Red Sox and Yankees fans. Springer was on the Sox’ side, Barnes was on the Yankees’, but “it’s no more,’’ Barnes said.

To this day, they’re still tight, texting back and forth regularly.

“When we’re about to play each other, we kind of talk a little smack back and forth,’’ Barnes said. “Kind of friendly conversation.’’

Even though they both broke into the big leagues two years ago, the only time they’ve faced each other was last month in Houston.

“He always just says he’s going to strike me out,’’ Springer said. “I always just say he’s not the first or the last. His job is to get me out, and I tell him all the time all I’ve got to do is hit a single and I win — and he gets mad.’’

Barnes got Springer to pop out in foul territory in a lone plate appearance last month. But instead of giving Barnes credit, Springer tipped his cap to Hanley Ramirez, who went into the seats to make the play.

“[Barnes] made me mad,’’ Springer said, grinning. “I popped up and Hanley decided to dive into the stands and make a pretty sick play. I’m not going to be mad about it. It was a good play. Give it to Hanley. Not Matt.’’

After hitting .276 with 16 homers and 41 RBIs in an injury-marred season last year, Springer entered Thursday night’s game hitting .248.

Barnes was 2-1 with a 2.65 ERA in 14 appearances.

After missing out last season, they were both eager to run into each other this year.

“Hopefully, I can stay on the field,’’ Springer said.

Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com.