Royals' quest to bolster diminishing pitching depth leads to reuniting with former closer

Similar to this season, the Kansas City Royals didn't give fans much to get excited about in the immediate seasons after the abnormal COVID-season in 2020. In 2021 they finished 74-88, in 2022 they finished 65-97. And then in 2023 they stumbled to a 56-106 record. However, like this season as well, the Royals still had bright spots on their roster. One of these positives was the closing efforts from Scott Barlow.

Through 74.1 innings in 2021, he converted 16 saves while posting a 2.42 ERA. Then in 2022, Barlow would notch 24 saves on route to a sterling 2.18 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and .196 BAA in 74.1 innings. Now, 2023 wasn't as bright for Barlow in a Royals uniform, however a midseason trade to the Padres did net Kansas City a pair of prospects in return for the right-hander. Now, Jesus Rio might not have panned out and is now in the Marlins organization, but Henry Williams remains part of the Royals' upper minors starting pitching depth, where he most notably threw to a respectable 4.64 ERA across the Double and Triple-A.

And now, while the Royals continue to lose pitching depth to injury seemingly by the day, the Royals are reuniting with Barlow on a minor league deal. The move comes off the tails of the 33-year-old being released from the Athletics last week.

While his 6.48 ERA across 33.1 innings in Sacramento were nothing to behold, his low-4.00 ERA marks in 2024 with the Cleveland Guardians and in 2025 with the Cincinnati Reds give him some recent upside for the Royals to get excited about.

Scott Barlow's arrival could be sight for sore eyes after Connor Seabold injury

The Royals made a series of pitching moves on Wednesday, promoting Randy Dobnak and selecting the contract of former big league reliever Jose Cuas from Triple-A Omaha. One of the coinciding moves that spurned these transactions was the injury to the recently acquired Connor Seabold.

According to the team, Seabold left Tuesday's game with right lat tightness. While his 9.00 ERA across five appearances may be nothing to write home about whatsoever, Seabold looked great in his first two scoreless innings in Kansas City and his 9.00 K/9 is certainly nothing to overlook.

On top of this, with Dobnak and Cuas now on the major league roster, plus the recent release of Luke Jackson, the bullpen depth in Omaha is running thin, so Barlow's arrival certainly helps mitigate that. And when you pair it with the fact that the Royals could be a team that deals from their relief pitching corps at the trade deadline, depth like Barlow becomes all the more important.

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