Scott Barlow is the Cleveland Guardians' top offseason addition and a key bullpen piece
The Guardians bullpen had been a consistently reliable force for years — until last season, when its blowup moments seemed to always come at the worst possible times.
That led to the team's biggest move of the offseason, and it points to the importance of Scott Barlow to the 2024 bullpen.
Statistically, the Guardians bullpen in 2023 was around league average, even a bit better than average. They finished 17th in fWAR, but ninth in ERA.
It was far from a disastrous group, but it just wasn't what they had grown accustomed to expecting. The Guardians were top five in ERA and fWAR in 2022, and have often been among the game's best units in recent years.
In the offseason, the Guardians made the type of trade that is rare for how they normally operate, dealing Enyel De Los Santos (and his three years of club control) to the San Diego Padres for Barlow, who can become a free agent in seven months. It was an out-of-the-ordinary move for Cleveland, especially considering Barlow was projected at the time to make around $5.4 million more in arbitration (although, trading Cal Quantrill essentially erased that increase).
It signaled how big of a piece the Guardians hope Barlow can be in 2024 while entering games ahead of closer Emmanuel Clase. Barlow has closing experience and saved 24 games with the Kansas City Royals in 2022. He also had 13 saves last year before being traded to the Padres.
The Guardians will need their bullpen to rebound if they are to challenge the Minnesota Twins for the division title. Clase returning to the status of arguably being the best reliever in baseball is step one. Barlow securing high-leverage situations ahead of Clase is step two.
Scott Barlow working on slider grip, posture during delivery in 2024
But much of that effectiveness might depend on how well a few adjustments pay off. Barlow struggled with the Royals last year, posting a 5.35 ERA before the trade. With the Padres, he was his normal self, posting a 3.07 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 29⅓ innings. That's the Barlow the Guardians need, and the one they hope they'll see after dealing De Los Santos for him.
Since last year, Barlow has been working on a few mechanical adjustments, namely his posture — which at times put him "in a weird spot," as he said, if hunched over during his delivery — and the grip on his slider.
The Guardians just need him to stand tall, one could say.
"When I'm hunching, I come around it a little bit too much, and it can hurt your alignment and even movement profiles as well," Barlow said. "But if I stay tall, I stay through the ball a lot better … and I didn't have to force everything as much."
The profiles on his slider and curveball had begun to blend, and without the difference in movement he lost effectiveness. The slider needs to be more horizontal, while the curveball has more vertical movement, to best complement his two-seamer.
Scott Barlow trade led to him being excited to join Guardians pitching development
As Barlow focuses on those two aspects, he was excited when he was informed he'd been traded to Cleveland. The Guardians have a reputation for being among the game's best in developing pitchers for a reason.
"Playing against Cleveland, with Kansas City, and seeing the pitchers they brought up and just seeing like, 'Wow, they're developing guys over there, I wonder what they're doing?'" Barlow said. "And now being here, getting an opportunity to see and pick their minds, [like], what are they doing to be so successful on that end?"
Barlow is already needed even more than the Guardians had anticipated when they acquired him. The bullpen represents the most beat-up group on the roster, as pitcher after pitcher went down this spring.
Trevor Stephan? He's done for the season and very likely much of 2025 after needing to undergo Tommy John surgery. James Karinchak? He's on the 60-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. Sam Hentges? He's out with left middle finger inflammation.
It'll test the Guardians' depth. It'll lead to more innings for pitchers like Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin, Tyler Beede and others. It also puts more emphasis on Barlow and Clase in the later innings.
But there's an aspect to Barlow's profile that pitching coach Carl Willis — a key part to the coaching staff in Stephen Vogt's first season — believes makes him a natural addition to the bullpen, and it was part of the reason for the Guardians' somewhat aggressive trade to acquire him.
"I think the biggest asset he has is his ability to spin the ball for strikes and then take it to [a pitch outside the zone batters will chase]," Willis said. "I don't think it's by design, but historically we have had a lot of pitchers who can pitch with our breaking pitches and both land 'em for strikes and expand [the zone] and not back ourselves into a corner."
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Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Threads at @ByRyanLewis.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: The Guardians' trade for Scott Barlow was unusual but it's paying off
