Scott

Barlow

Scott Barlow allowed a walk and a single to start the ninth with a one-run lead. He then retired Alex Bregman and Seiya Suzuki, but at that point, the A’s turned to the lefty Harris to face Ian Happ and were rewarded with a routine fly to center. Harris broke a tie with Joel Kuhnel and Mark Leiter Jr. by becoming the first A’s reliever with five saves this season. The situation doesn’t seem worth investing in right now.

Jack Perkins could do nothing but watch after Barlow entered with a 6-1 lead and the bases loaded in the ninth and walked three in a row to force in three runs. Barlow then got Jazz Chisholm Jr. to ground out for one of the ugliest saves in major league history. Barlow allowed no runs of his own, so his ERA dropped to 3.08. He didn’t exactly help his case for more save chances, however.

Barlow recorded two outs after Hogan Harris got into trouble to begin the ninth. It was Barlow’s first save of the season, and he became the third Athletics reliever to earn one this week. Harris should remain the favorite for ninth-inning chances.

After finishing off a four-run lead last night, Perkins gave up two singles and a double today to blow his second save chance in two tries this month. This might take him out of the mix for a spell, increasing the chances that Joel Kuhnel and Scott Barlow could wind up with saves. Barlow pitched a scoreless eighth today for his eighth hold.

Barlow never even touched 90 mph on the gun today, with his average fastball coming in at 88.7 mph. That’s down 3.6 mph from last year. Of course, Barlow did sign late, and he’s a veteran who knows what he has to do to get ready for the season. Still, a bad spring will probably drop him down the depth chart some in an Athletics pen with no clear closer.

Barlow agreed to the deal last Friday. He had a 4.21 ERA in 68 1/3 innings for the Reds last season, but his strikeout rate was down and his walk rate was up. He doesn’t seem like a very good bet at this point, but there is still some save potential in what looks like a very weak A’s bullpen.

Barlow was able to command a major league deal, though it’s from a team playing games in a minor league ballpark. The 33-year-old has finished with ERAs in the 4.20-4.40 range three years running, though he did so with both the worst strikeout rate (24.8%) and highest walk rate (14.9%) of his career in Cincinnati last season. Just about anyone could emerge as the Athletics’ closer, but Barlow doesn’t seem like a good bet at this point.

Barlow made 75 appearances for the Reds in 2025, and while he struck out 75 hitters in his 68 1/3 innings, he also walked 45 with an ERA of 4.21. Still, it’s likely that Barlow will see interest on the free-agent market for a team looking to buoy its middle-relief depth.

Hays is one of three players that the Reds declined options on, with Brent Suter and Scott Barlow joining Hays. The 30-year-old outfielder dealt with injuries for much of the 2025 season, but he did post a solid .768 OPS with 15 homers and 64 RBI in his 103 appearances with Cincinnati. He’ll certainly have interest on the market, even with his injury history and less-than-spectacular defense.

The Reds will have a bullpen game tonight, with Scott Barlow slated to start versus the Blue Jays. No word yet on when Lodolo might pitch again.