Scott A. Barlow resides in Texarkana, Ark., with his wife, Klancy … Graduated from Golden Valley High School in Santa Clarita, Calif. in 2011... named All-Foothill League in baseball as a senior, going 7-4 with a 3.17 ERA, and set a school record with 17 strikeouts in a game as a junior … Participated in the MLB Japan All-Star Series in 2018 … also pitched for Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican Winter League, going 1-3 with a 5.26 ERA in eight appearances (seven starts) … Participated in Royals FanFest in 2019 and 2020, and has been active with Royals Charities by attending the Golf Tournament and Diamond of Dreams while also donating items for the Broadcast Auctions … also volunteers to help with children from the Dream Factory and lead youth baseball and softball clinics … Bypassed a scholarship from Fresno State University when he signed with the Dodgers in 2011.
2023
Acquired by SD from KC as one of the club’s three Trade Deadline deals on Aug. 1 … Converted 13 of his 16 save opportunities for KC with a 5.35 ERA (23 ER, 38.2 IP) and 47 strikeouts in 38 relief appearances … Went on to post a 3.07 ERA (10 ER, 29.1 IP) and limit opponents to a .223/.317/.291 slash line in his 25 relief outings for SD … Allowed just four extra-base hits (three 2B, one HR) to RH hitters with a .208/.303./.254 slash line … LHH slashed .279/.372/.426 with 11 XBH (seven 2B, one 3B, three HR). Per Statcast, relied on four pitches: slider (37.3%), curveball (33.4%), four-seam fastball (21.2%) and sinker (8.1%) … Opponents hit just .191 vs. his slider and .195 vs. his curve … Ranked in the 92nd percentile and above in avg exit velocity (96th, 85.5 mph), hard-hit % (96th, 29.8%) and barrel % (92nd, 4.4%).
2022
Barlow in 2022 posted career highs in wins (seven), ERA (2.18), saves (24) and opponents’ average (1.98)…his seven wins tied for third among AL relievers and his 24 saves ranked sixth... Only two pitchers in Royals history have recorded a better ERA than Barlow (2.18) while pitching in more games (69), and both instances came in 2014, when Wade Davis had a 1.00 ERA (8 ER in 72.0 IP) in 71 appearances and Kelvin Herrera had a 1.41 ERA (11 ER in 70.0 IP) in 70 appearances... He was the only reliever in 2022 with at least 70.0 innings, 20 saves and five wins... Barlow’s 1.50 ERA (7 ER in 42.0 IP) in 39 outings at Kauffman Stadium marked the best home ERA in the Majors (min. 40.0 IP) and was the fifth-best home ERA in franchise history (min. 40.0 IP), higher only than Jeff Montgomery (1.20 in 1990 and 1.32 in 1989), Steve Farr (1.37 in 1990) and Dan Quisenberry (1.38 in 1982)... Of Barlow’s 24 saves in 2022, nine came in games in which he recorded at least four outs, the most such saves in the Majors and the most such saves by a Royal since Jeff Montgomery had nine in 1995.
2021
Made his third straight Opening Day roster and appeared in a career-high 71 games for the Royals, one shy of Jake Brentz (72) for the team lead...led the Royals’ bullpen in innings (74.1), ERA (2.42), strikeouts (91), batters faced (306), saves (16), K/9 (11.02), K/BB (3.25) and was tied with Brentz for first in wins (5)...Tied for ninth among Major League relievers in innings (74.1) and ranked 11th in strikeouts (91)...among qualified American League relievers, he ranked fourth in innings pitched, sixth in strikeouts, 10th in ERA (2.42) and tied for 11th in saves (16)...Finished with a 2.1 WAR, according to FanGraphs, eighth-best among Major League relievers, 0.6 points behind White Sox All-Star Liam Hendriks (2.7) for the lead...his 2021 campaign ranked tied for the 10th-best WAR by a Royals reliever in club history and the best since Mike Minor’s 2017 season (2.2 WAR). Had a career-long 13.0-inning scoreless streak over 12 games from May 14 June 11, in which he went 1-0 with one save and held opponents to a .119 batting average (5-for-42) with five walks and 21 strikeouts...Led the Royals with 56 scoreless outings, which tied for fourth in the American League with Yusmeiro Petit, five behind leader Bryan Shaw’s 61...his 56 scoreless outings were the most by a Royal in a single season since Peter Moylan’s franchise record 66 in 2017...Earned Royals Pitcher of the Month honors in May, pitching in 13 of 28 games (46.4%), two off the Majors lead...he posted a team-high five holds with a 1.50 ERA (2 ER in 12.0 IP) and .159 opponents’ average (7-for-44) and was the first reliever to earn the honor since Ian Kennedy in June 2019...Was named Royals Pitcher of the Month for a second straight month in June after appearing in 11 of the Royals’ 27 games—one shy of the team lead—including nine scoreless appearances, and pitched to a 1.69 ERA (2 ER in 10.2 IP) with 14 strikeouts (11.8 K/9) and a .231 opponents’ average (9-for-39)...he became the first pitcher to earn the honor in consecutive months since Brad Keller from August-September 2018...Began the year with a 31-game, 34.0-inning homerless streak, the longest streak by any Royal in 2021 by games or innings pitched...Became the third Royal (6th occurrence) to pitch in at least 70 games, earn five-plus wins and 15-plus saves, joining Royals Hall of Famers Dan Quisenberry (4 such seasons: 1980, ‘82, ‘84 and ‘85) and Jeff Montgomery (1990)...the only other reliever to hit those marks in 2021 was Lou Trivino, who recorded seven wins and 22 saves in 71 games, but Barlow’s 2.42 ERA was 76 points lower than Trivino’s (3.18)...Had the sixth-lowest ERA in club history at 2.42 (min. 70 games), which was the lowest since Wade Davis’ 1.00 and Kelvin Herrera’s 1.41 in 2014...Had a 2.13 ERA (9 ER in 38.0 IP) at Kauffman Stadium over 35 games, recording 38 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .239 batting average (34-for-142)...the last Royal to post a lower home ERA in at least 35 home games was Kevin McCarthy, who had a 2.03 ERA in 35 home games in 2018...His 1.71 ERA (6 ER in 31.2 IP) after the break ranked sixth in the Majors and third in the AL (min. 30 games)...Had a 2.23 ERA (9 ER in 36.1 IP) with eight of his 16 saves vs. the American League Central, and his ERA was the ninth-lowest in a single season vs. intradivision opponents in club history (min. 30 games)...Accounted for 16 of the Royals’ 37 saves (43.2%), and led a group of eight relievers who recorded at least one save, falling one shy of the club record (9) set in 1999, and was the most since 2006 (8)...He and Brentz combined to be the fourth Royals relief duo to appear in 70-plus games each, one shy of the club record (3) done in 2012 by Tim Collins, Aaron Crow and Kelvin Herrera, and the first to do so since 2016, when Herrera pitched in 72 games, and Joakim Soria pitched in 70.
2020
Made a Majors-most 32 appearances, two more than any other pitcher, and finished one outing shy of the franchise record for most in the first 60 games of a season, held by Jason Grimsley (33) in 2003…he also led the Majors with 25 scoreless appearances, one more than Mike Mayers (24)...Recorded a career-high two saves and seven holds, second most by a Royals reliever in 2020, behind only Josh Staumont’s eight...Had a career-low .239 opponents’ average (27-for-113), including a .200 average (14-for-70) through Aug. 31 (.302 (13-for-43) in September)...Among AL relievers that worked at least 10.0 innings in August, his 0.87 WHIP ranked ninth, while his 1.80 ERA (3 ER in 15.0 IP) ranked 17th...With two outs, held opponents to a .135 average (5-for37) and a .179 on-base percentage with one extra-base hit, a HR by Ryan Braun on Sept. 19...Both of his victories came against Cleveland, including the Royals’ first win of the year on July 25, when he pitched a scoreless ninth—recording back-to-back strikeouts with the bases loaded—ahead of Maikel Franco’s go-ahead sac fly in the 10th…held opponents to 1-for-8 with the bases loaded...Earned the win on Aug. 31 vs. Cleveland, working a scoreless eighth ahead of Bubba Starling’s go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the frame...Recorded saves on Aug. 9 vs. Minnesota and Sept. 8 at Cleveland, and was one of four Royals pitchers to record multiple saves in 2020... His homer to Josh VanMeter on Aug. 12 at Cincinnati snapped his homerless streak at 45.0 innings, which included his first 11.0 innings in 2020, and was the second-longest active streak in the Majors at the time (Elias), trailing only Brandon Workman’s 57.2-inning run without a home run...Surrendered just three runs over his first 20 outings (19.2 IP), which included a season-best scoreless streak of 7.2 innings (Aug. 15-31), spanning eight outings… allowed 11 runs in his next seven appearances (Sept. 2-19), before recording six-straight scoreless outings to end the season (Sept. 21-27)....Charged with a season-high four runs on season-hightying three hits on Sept. 19 at Milwaukee, allowing a threerun homer to Ryan Braun and an RBI double to Jacob Nottingham, marking the most runs he’d allowed in one outing since May 25, 2019 vs. the Yankees (Game 1).
2019
Made his first Opening Day roster and led KC relievers with 70.1 innings and 92 strikeouts…strikeout total ranked seventh among AL relievers ... His 92 strikeouts were second most by a Royals rookie reliever, trailing only Jim York's 103 strikeouts in 93.1 innings in 1971, and were the eighth most by any Royals reliever (rookie or not) ... Pitched to a 2.84 ERA (10 ER in 31.2 IP) in 28 appearances vs. AL Central foes...that included a 2.84 mark vs. Cleveland (2 ER in 6.1 IP), a 2.45 ERA vs. Chicago (3 ER in 11.0 IP) and a 1.13 mark vs. Detroit (1 ER in 8.0 IP) ... Earned his first Major League save on April 17 in Chicago, pitching a scoreless bottom of the 10th following Hunter Dozier's go-ahead homer in the top half ... Set a career high with six strikeouts in 2.0 innings on May 10 vs. Philadelphia…inherited a two-on, none-out jam in the sixth, and went: strikeout (Rhys Hoskins), walk, strikeout (Odúbel Herrera), strikeout (César Hernández) to end the threat…struck out the side in the seventh inning - all looking - on 14 pitches, becoming the first Royals reliever to strike out the side on all called strikes since Wade Davis on May 6, 2014 at San Diego (9th) ... Had a 1.77 ERA (4 ER in 20.1 IP) and .167 opponents' average (12-for-72) with 30 strikeouts (13.3 K/9) in his first 14 appearances through May 14 ... Optioned to Omaha (AAA) on July 1, and pitched 6.0 scoreless innings over three outings with the Storm Chasers, before being recalled on July 15 ... From his July 15 recall through the end of the season, he posted a 2.12 ERA (8 ER in 34.0 IP) and .205 opponents' average (25-for-122) in 31 appearances, with the fifth-best ERA in the American League during that time (min. 30.0 IP) ... Did not allow a home run over his last 34.0 innings from July 15 through season's end, the fourth-longest active streak to end the 2019 season, according to Elias, trailing only Boston's Brandon Workman (52.2 IP), the Cubs' Rowan Wick (37.1 IP) and the Yankees' Luis Severino (34.1 IP)…the last homer he allowed was a walk-off shot by Danny Jansen in the ninth inning on June 29 in Toronto.
2018
Made his big league debut on April 30, tossing 3.0 innings at Fenway Park...Made six appearances over two stints with the Royals, going 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA (6 ER in 15.0 IP)…allowed just three walks and recorded 15 strikeouts....Earned his first big league victory on May 29 vs. Minnesota, tossing 4.0 hitless frames in a 2-1 win in 14 innings…his 4.0-inning stint without allowing a hit was the longest by a Royals reliever since Jose Santiago (also 4.0) on May 21, 2000 at Anaheim...In his May 29 outing vs. Minnesota, struck out five consecutive hitters to become the first KC reliever with 4.0 hitless innings and five strikeouts in the same game since Jeff Montgomery on May 7, 1990 at Cleveland... Charged with three runs on three hits over 3.0 innings at Angel Stadium on June 6, suffering a 4-3 loss...Recalled by the Royals twice (April 28-May 4; May 28-June 17), before being placed on the 7-day disabled list on July 3…made rehab assignments with Surprise (Rookie) and Northwest Arkansas (AA)...Compiled a 1-4 mark and a 5.37 ERA (32 ER in 53.2 IP) with a save in 16 minor league appearances (13 starts) in his three stops...Participated in the MLB Japan All-Star Series in October…also pitched for Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican Winter League, going 1-3 with a 5.26 ERA in eight appearances (seven starts).
2017
Went 7-6 with a 3.29 ERA (51 ER in 139.2 IP) in 26 starts between Oklahoma City (AAA) and Tulsa (AA) in the Dodgers' organization ... Started and finished the season in Tulsa, where he went 6-3 with a 2.10 ERA (25 ER in 107.1 IP)…would have led the Texas League in ERA, but he fell five innings shy of qualifying…named Texas League postseason All-Star ... Ranked fifth in the Texas League with 124 strikeouts (10.4 K/9), including three double-digit strikeout games in just 19 starts with the Drillers ... Earned Texas League Pitcher of the Week honors (June 11), going 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA (1 ER in 13.0 IP) and 13 strikeouts in two starts
2016
Spent all of 2016 in Tulsa (AA), going 4-7 with a 3.98 ERA (55 ER in 124.1 IP) in 24 appearances (23 starts)…earned Texas League midseason All-Star honors ... Held opponents to one or zero earned runs in 12 of his 23 starts (52 percent), including a career-high tying 7.0 shutout innings in a no-decision on Aug. 23 vs. Arkansas.
2015
Limited to just 88.2 innings in 2015 due to two DL stints, but went 8-6 with a 3.35 ERA in 19 outings (18 starts) across four levels, including 14 appearances with Rancho Cucamonga (A) ... Made three relief appearances in 2015 for the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League.
