Kansas City Royals: Scott Barlow best reliever in bullpen
The Kansas City Royals’ bullpen isn’t very good, but Scott Barlow is doing well in a relief role. The 26-year old has a strong case as the best Royals reliever this season.
We all remember how dominant the Kansas City Royals bullpen was when they were appearing in back-to-back World Series. While the bullpen is now arguably the WEAKEST area for the Royals, it’s not all bad.
One of the brightest spots in the pen has been Scott Barlow, who the Royals signed in free agency in late 2017. He was a sixth round draft choice by the Los Angeles Angels in 2011, but never made it to the big leagues with them. Clearly, a change of scenery did wonders for the righty.
Barlow saw limited action in 2018, throwing in 15 innings and posting an ERA of 3.60 and a WHIP of 1.267. He only pitched in six games, but the future appeared bright for Barlow as a Royal.
This season has proven that he’s ready to be thrown into a game on just about any occasion. Barlow has a 2.45 ERA in 14.2 innings and has appeared in 11 games to this point. What makes him such a great option is that when he does enter a game, he’s able to go multiple innings. Not only that, but he’s able to thrown multiple CLEAN innings, which is a big task for this bullpen.
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In the 11 games Barlow has pitched in, he’s gone multiple innings five times. When the only other viable reliever is Ian Kennedy and Jake Diekman (he’s improved greatly after a rough start), having guys who can go more than one inning is really important.
On Sunday in Detroit, Barlow went 1.2 innings and struck out three batters. The Royals went on to lose in ten innings, but Barlow is not to blame for that. He did his job and is looking more and more like someone this team can count on as the season rolls on.
This season isn’t going to result in a playoff appearance (though the AL Central is really bad, so the Royals won’t be realistically eliminated as early as we’d expect them to be), but knowing Scott Barlow is under contract with this team through 2025 is huge. He’s also just 26 years old, so he should still be an effective reliever by the time the team is ready to contend again.
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The Kansas City Royals should not send Barlow back to Omaha again because he’s proven he can hang with the big boys.
What do you think of Scott Barlow, Royals fans? Is he the best reliever in 2019 to this point?