This quiet Reds signing just turned into a no-brainer for the 2026 season

The Cincinnati Reds made several offseason acquisitions this past winter; most of which came by way of trade. The Reds added Gavin Lux, Brady Singer, Taylor Rogers, and Jose Trevino through various offseason deals, and their biggest free agent acquisition was arguably signing Austin Hays to a one-year contract worth $5 million.

Scott Barlow's contributions this season, however, cannot be ignored. The Reds quietly inked Barlow to a one-year, $2.5 million deal just before pitchers and catchers reported to Goodyear for spring training. At this rate, the Reds may need to consider picking up Barlow's $6.5 million club-option for the 2026 season.

Barlow struggled at the outset of the 2025 season. The former Kansas City Royals closer was used in middle relief through the first several weeks of the season and posted a somewhat unsightly 4.01 ERA and 4.34 FIP through the month of May.

Underrated Reds offseason addition, Scott Barlow, suddenly looks like a late-game weapon

But once the calendar flipped to June, Barlow became a key contributor out of the Cincinnati bullpen. Since June 1, Barlow has made 19 appearances and logged 18 innings of work. He's faced 74 batters over that span while striking out 20 of them. Barlow has allowed just one ball to leave the yard during that stretch and has been called upon in multiple high-leverage situations.

Heading into the All-Star break, Barlow has put up zeroes in six straight outings with 10 Ks covering 5 ⅔ innings. Given Tony Santillan's recent struggles, Barlow may now be Cincinnati's most reliable reliever outside of closer Emilio Pagán.

The Reds bullpen has experienced numerous highs and lows this season with a lot of inconsistency in between. Barlow, however, has been a calming force of late and may be working himself into a more prominent role as we enter the second-half of the 2025 campaign.

Players like Santillan, Lyon Richardson, Graham Ashcraft, and Luis Mey have shown flashes, but Terry Francona will need some reliability late in ballgames down the stretch. Barlow could very well be that guy.

Barlow has experience closing out games, though he's unlikely to usurp that role from Pagán. But Reds fans should not be surprised to see Barlow receive an increased workload in the seventh and eighth innings over the final few months of the season. If he continues to put these types of numbers, the Reds may have no choice but to exercise Barlow's club-option after the season.

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