Joe Barlow #36

Married Megan...His father-in-law Luis González played 19 MLB seasons (1990-2008) with six different teams...González hit a walk-off single for Arizona in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series vs. the Yankees...Has seven brothers and three sisters...Attended Salt Lake (Utah) Community College, where he was a pitcher and catcher...Is a 2014 graduate of Riverton (Utah) High School.

2023

Split the season between the Texas and Kansas City organizations, appearing in 13 games with the Rangers...Began the season at Class AAA Round Rock, going 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA (4 ER/13.2 IP) and 15 strikeouts in 11 appearances...Was recalled by the Rangers on 5/16 and made five appearances before being placed on the 15-day injured list on 5/29 with kidney stones...Was reinstated on 6/14...Made seven straight scoreless appearances from 5/28-6/24 (6.1 IP) before giving up three runs on five hits in 0.2 IP in his next two outings...Was optioned to Round Rock on 7/6, designated for assignment on 7/30 and claimed off waivers by Kansas City on 8/4...Was assigned to Class AAA Omaha...Was DFA by the Royals on 9/1 and outrighted to Omaha on 9/3...Made five appearances with the Storm Chasers in September.

2022

Recorded career-best and team-high 13 saves, 13th-most in A.L., despite enduring multiple stints on the 15-day Injured List due to a blister on his right index finger: 7/13-8/16 and 8/18-9/22...finished with a 3-1 record and 3.86 ERA (15 ER/35.0 IP) while also setting career highs in games (35), wins, innings, and strikeouts (28)...went 1-0 with a 1.56 ERA (3 ER/17.1 IP), .177 opp. BA, and 8.83 SO/9 figure over 17 G in April-May, but registered a 6.11 ERA (12 ER/17.2 IP), .246 opp. BA, and 5.60 SO/9 figure over 18 G after the start of June...compiled a 0.82 ERA (2 R-1 ER/11.0 IP) and was 8-for-8 in save tries over 11 G in May, tying his career high for saves in a single month (also eight saves in Sept. of 2021)...opponents batted .213/.301/.378/.679 (27-127) with 10 extra-base hits (5 HR, 1 3B, 4 2B) while posting reverse platoon splits: .182 BA (10-55) vs. LHB and .236 BA (17-72) vs. RHB...struck out just 28 of 146 (19.2%) of batters faced, as his 7.20 strikeouts per 9.0 innings figure was 2nd-lowest among MLB pitchers with 10+ saves (5.63-ARI’s Mark Melancon). 

SURGERY: Underwent arthroscopic surgery on 11/4/22 to separate a pair of fused tendons in his right wrist, a condition that was thought to be contributing to blister issue...is expected to be ready for Spring Training. 

MINORS IN 2022: Combined to go 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA (1 ER/6.2 IP) and 7 SO/3 BB over 5 relief outings with Frisco (AA) and Round Rock (AAA) while on injury rehab assignment. 

CLOSING THE DOOR: Was successful in 13 of 17 (76.5%) save tries, including each of first nine to open the season...that season-opening span extended his streak of 17 straight converted saves from 9/8/21-5/31/22, which ended after he suffered a blown save/loss on 6/3 vs. SEA (1.0 IP, 2 R-ER, 1 HR)...marked the longest Texas save streak since Keone Kela (25, 5/21/17- 7/13/18)...did not allow an earned run in any save opp. during the multi-season streak, matching the longest run of its kind in club history: 17-Frank Francisco (8/27/08-6/3/09).

2021

Recalled from Round Rock (AAA) on 6/23, Barlow emerged as one of the Rangers’ top relievers in his rookie season, posting a 1.55 ERA (5 ER/29.0 IP) and 11 saves over 31 G for Texas in his 1st ML action…ranked among MLB leaders (min. 30 G) in opp. BA (1st), OBP (3rd), SLG (3rd), OPS (3rd), WHIP (3rd, 0.83), and ERA (8th)…finished with the lowest opp. BA (.124) and 5th-lowest ERA (1.55) all-time among Texas pitchers with 30+ appearances in a season…on 10-day IL, 8/20-29, w/ blister on right index finger…struck out club-record eight consecutive batters (7/24-8/2), surpassing previous mark that had been held by Nolan Ryan (7/7/91) and Neftali Feliz (8/7-13/09).

SAVES: His 11 saves were 2nd-most on club (16-Ian Kennedy), 2nd-most among MLB rookies in 2021 (24-Emmanuel Clase, CLE), and 2nd-most ever by a Texas rookie (40-Neftali Feliz, 2010)…finished 11-for-12 (91.7%) in save tries, converting final eight chances following lone blown save on 9/1 vs. COL…had the 5th-highest save percentage among MLB pitchers with at least 10 save chances…the only Texas rookie to ever finish with a higher save pct. than Barlow (min. 10 chances) was Feliz in 2010 (40-for-43, 93%)…tied for A.L. lead with eight saves in Sept., most by a Ranger in a month since Keone Kela in June 2018 (8)…saved eight of Rangers’ final 10 wins beg. 9/8.

DAY BY DAY: Opponents scored in just one of 1st 16 G in Majors (0.61 ERA, 1 R-ER/14.2 IP), then gave up runs in 2 of 3 G spanning IL stint from 8/19-9/1 (7 R-3 ER, 3.2 IP)…compiled a 13.2-inning scoreless streak from 7/7-8/19, the 4th-longest streak by a Ranger in 2021 and longest by a reliever…beginning 9/5, had a 0.84 ERA (1 ER/10.2 IP) in final 12 app.

MISCELLANEOUS: Limited opponents to a .124/.216/.216/.433 (12-97) slash line with five extra-base hits (2 HR, 3 2B)…allowed runs in four of 31 G…selected Rangers Sept./Oct. Player of the Month by the writers and broadcasters that cover the team on a regular basis…spent balance of season with Round Rock, going 0-1 with a 2.57 ERA (6 ER/21.0 IP), seven saves, a 0.762 WHIP figure, and 12.4 SO/9 in 17 G…at the time of his MLB promotion, his seven saves were tied for Triple-A West league lead…had 3.38 ERA (3 ER/8.0 IP) over 6 Alternate Training Site outings with Round Rock before minor league season.

2020

A non-roster invitee to ML Spring Training for the 1st time, he did not see official game action after minor league season was canceled due to pandemic…was 0-0, 5.40 (2 ER/3.1 IP) over four G in Cactus League, assigned to minor league camp on 3/11, date of final game before the shutdown…did not participate with Alternate Site group or in Fall Developmental League.

2019

Recorded 14.68 strikeouts per 9 innings (93 SO/57.0 IP) across 3 levels of the Texas farm system, the 6th-highest rate among minor league pitchers with at least 50.0 IP...named the best reliever in the Carolina League in Baseball America's annual Best Tools survey after posting a .132/.269/.197/.466 opp. slash line over 17 appearances at Down East…honored with organization's internal Reliever of the Month award for May, going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER/14.0 IP) and 4 BB/25 SO… allowed 0 ER in 15 consecutive outings from 4/10-5/27 and struck out 37 of 79 (46.8%) batters faced during that stretch... saw action in 13 games with Double-A Frisco from 5/30-7/11 and ranked among Texas League leaders (min. 15.0 IP) in SO/9 (2nd, 15.19), opp. AVG (3rd, .118), and ERA (T5th, 1.13) over that span...made his Nashville debut on 7/15 and proceeded to fan 22 batters over 17.1 IP (11.42 SO/9) in his 1st career stint at the Triple-A level…right-handed batters slashed .176/.289/.294/.583 (21-119) on the season compared to .225/.392/.275/.667 (18-80) line by left-handed opponents.