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Royals Claim Joe Barlow

By Anthony Franco and Steve Adams | August 4, 2023 at 12:37pm CDT

The Royals announced Friday they’ve claimed right-hander Joe Barlow off waivers from the Rangers. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Omaha. The Royals’ 40-man roster is now at 39 players.

Barlow, 27, changes organizations for the first time in his career. Texas selected him in the 11th round of the 2016 draft and called him to the majors five years later. Barlow got strong results out of the Rangers’ bullpen over his first couple seasons, following up a 1.55 ERA rookie showing with a 3.86 mark over 35 appearances last year.

Between his first two seasons, the Utah native worked to a 2.86 ERA across 64 innings. His underlying marks didn’t align with that excellent run prevention. His 21.4% strikeout percentage and 9.7% walk rate were each a touch worse than average. An unsustainably low .193 opponents’ average on balls in play was a big reason for his strong results. Yet Barlow was effective enough to quickly pitch his way up the bullpen hierarchy on subpar Texas clubs. He’d taken over as Chris Woodward’s closer by the end of his rookie season and ultimately locked down 24 saves in 29 attempts over his first couple years.

As Texas pushed firmly into win-now mode last winter, they installed free agent signee Will Smith into a late-inning role. Midseason trades of Aroldis Chapman and Chris Stratton followed. Barlow’s middling peripherals pushed him further down the depth chart. He has spent more time on optional assignment to Triple-A Round Rock than with the big league club this summer. Barlow has worked 9 2/3 innings of five-run ball over 13 MLB appearances, striking out six with two walks. He carries a 4.21 ERA with a 22.9% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk percentage in 25 2/3 Triple-A frames on the year.

Texas designated Barlow for assignment last weekend upon officially acquiring Stratton and Jordan Montgomery from St. Louis. He’s a sensible pickup for a K.C. club that has subtracted Chapman, Scott Barlow and José Cuas in trades over the past five weeks. Joe Barlow is in his first of three minor league option seasons. He won’t be eligible for arbitration until the end of next year at the earliest. With a couple open spots on the 40-man roster, the Royals used their high waiver priority to nab a depth arm with some experience in a high-leverage role and generally solid major league track record.

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Kansas City Royals Texas Rangers Transactions Joe Barlow

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View Comments (15)
Post a Comment

15 Comments

  1. No Soup For Yu!

    2 years ago

    Couldn’t last a week without a guy named Barlow on the roster, huh?

    16
    Reply
    • Edp007

      2 years ago

      That’s coz in KC the bar is always set low

      7
      Reply
  2. In Seager/Hader We Trust > the 70 MM DH Ohtani

    2 years ago

    Barlow in, Barlow out

    8
    Reply
    • ShootyBabbit

      2 years ago

      Can’t explain that

      Reply
      • In Seager/Hader We Trust > the 70 MM DH Ohtani

        2 years ago

        They traded away Scott Barlow and claimed Joe Barlow.

        1
        Reply
        • phenomenalajs

          2 years ago

          That would be Barlow out, Barlow in.

          2
          Reply
  3. BaseballisLife

    2 years ago

    Are Scott and Joe related?

    Reply
    • cbraves

      2 years ago

      I’m pretty sure they are.

      Reply
    • Edp007

      2 years ago

      No they are not. I researched that last year.

      4
      Reply
  4. MysterySpot

    2 years ago

    Making a pun off of this gu’s name is just setting the Barlow

    12
    Reply
  5. Topshelf Nick

    2 years ago

    The jersey is already ready for him

    3
    Reply
  6. Rsox

    2 years ago

    The Royals maintaining their Barlow quota. Might be another Taylor they could add somewhere also…

    1
    Reply
    • JoshBoman2001

      2 years ago

      They already have another Taylor. Samad, we acquired him at the 22 deadline with Max Castillo for Whit Merrifield

      Reply
  7. wileycoyote56

    2 years ago

    All about saving money, same jerseys no need ordering new ones

    Reply
  8. bigun

    2 years ago

    10,000 out of work comedians, and we are subjected to you guys!

    1
    Reply

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