Reuniting With Scott Barlow Could Be The Missing Piece Of The Royals' Bullpen

The Royals have brought on some key free agents this offseason, with dominant setup man Matt Strahm from the Phillies alongside some additional veteran depth pieces in Kevin Newman and Abraham Toro, who will look to compete for a starting role in spring training. 

However, with the addition of Strahm has come the losses of Angel Zerpa and Hunter Harvey to the Cubs, Taylor Clarke, and Jonathan Bowlan to the Phillies. The losses of Zerpa, Bowlan, and Clarke combined for 164 1/3 innings with a combined 3.76 ERA and a 7-5 record. 

Reuniting With Scott Barlow Brings Leadership & Consistency 

The 32-year-old veteran righty signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with a club option for 2027. Barlow started his career in Kansas City, logging 302 innings with a 133 ERA+ and 440 games. 

His best seasons came in 2021 and 2022, when he logged 148 innings with a 188 ERA+, a 12-7 record, 40 saves, 46 RAR, and 2.30 ERA. He was a nightmare for hitters in this two-year span, generating a 33.6 hard hit rate, 21.7 line drive percentage, and 2.2 HR%. 

After struggling in 2023, the Royals sent him to the Padres for prospects Jesus Rios and Henry Williams at the deadline. After appearing in 63 games with the Royals with a 5.35 ERA, RA9 of 6.05, and -4 RAA. He dominated, finishing with his third-best ERA of 3.07 in 25 games and cutting his RA9 in half to 3.99.

After one year with the Guardians in 2024,he ranked in the top 94th percentile in whiff rate (33.6), 84th percentile in K% (28.2), 82nd percentile in barrel% (5.8), and 92nd percentile in hard-hit% (32.6). 

Last season, the Reds brought him in on a one-year deal, where he ranked in the top 1% in hard hit percentage at 30.5 and top 4% in average exit velocity at 86.2. In 68 1/3 innings with the Reds, he finished with a WPA of 1.7 and a career-best 0.86 clutch. 

He made his first postseason appearance after the Reds made a miraculous NLDS appearance, where they were dominated by the Dodgers. One of the few bright spots for the Reds in this appearance was Barlow’s 1 2/3 innings pitched against the powerhouse Dodgers offense. 

With the Reds down 5-0 in game two, Barlow entered the game in the bottom of the fourth looking to limit damage. Not only did he do that, but the Dodgers couldn’t find an answer to his sweeper and curveball. He finished the fourth inning, striking out the side, putting away backup catcher Ben Rortvedt on five pitches, Ohtani on seven pitches with a swing and a miss on a low sweeper, and finishing off the inning with a dominant four-pitch strikeout on back-to-back whiffs with the sweeper on Betts. 

He’d face two batters in the fifth with a lineout by Freeman before another strikeout with his Sweeper against Max Muncy on five pitches. Why is his appearance important, you may ask? After being pulled for Connor Phillips with two outs, the Dodgers would extend their lead with a home run from Teoscar Hernandez. Before Phillips would be tagged with two more runs the next inning with a two-run homer by Ohtani. 

Barlow will bring a five pitch repertoire led by his +5 run value in his sweeper that generated a whiff rate of 39.4, K% of 33.3, and hard hit% of 19.1, following close behind is his 92 MPH fastball at +2, with a .235 xBA, .476 xSLG, and 21.3 usage right, his curveball is an even zero rating with a 47.6 K%, .149 xBA, and 22% putaway percentage, his worst pitch was his slider at -2 giving up four home runs and allowing a .255 average when used. Finally, his sinker was primarily used against right-handers, coming at a +1 run value, generating a xWOBA of .351. 

He’d be fairly cheap coming back to a team where he had the best seasons of his career and recent postseason success at a projected two-year, $2.6 million salary.