Padres sign RHP Kyle Barraclough to a minor league deal
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The San Diego Padres have signed veteran right-handed pitcher Kyle Barraclough.
Jon Morosi reported on Tuesday that RHP Kyle Barraclough signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres.
While the details of this contract are unclear yet, it is known that Barraclough will receive an invitation to Spring Training.
Kyle Barraclough has agreed to terms with the #Padres on a Minor League Contract with an invitation to Major League Camp, source says. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 18, 2019
Barraclough is a 29 year-old relief pitcher. He debuted in 2015 with the Miami Marlins and spent 2019 with San Francisco Giants and the Washington Nationals. Barraclough has a career 3.53 ERA and 1.359 WHIP in 252.1 innings.
In all three of his first three seasons in the big leagues, he recorded an ERA of 3.00 or lower. However, things have not been so kind to Barraclough since then. In 2018 he had a 4.20 ERA, and in 2019, he recorded a 5.61 ERA. The San Diego Padres will hope to return him to his form from his early Miami days.
Kyle Barraclough owns a three-pitch arsenal. He throws his fastball over 50% of the time, which typical sits between 93 and 95 mph. His fastball velocity has decreased from an average of 95.6 to 93.4 mph since he entered the league, which was when he was at his best.
It would be in the Padres best interest to find a way to get Barraclough’s fastball velocity higher. His two offspeed pitches are a slider and a changeup. He tends to lean on the slider more so than he does with the changeup. However, as his career has progressed, he has used the changeup more than when he entered the league.
Overall, this is a low risk, high reward signing. Given that it is a minor league deal, the San Diego Padres are not too financially or time-committed to Barraclough. If the Padres can get some of his prime back, this will be a valuable depth signing to the already promising Padres bullpen.
Dominic is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, with a bachelor’s degree in Sports Journalism. He also is the producer and co-host of the “Padres EVT Podcast.”
Padres talk(talk is what they are good at) all off season up till now about getting a front of the rotation starter. Strasburg, Wheeler, Hamels, Bumgarner and Kluber end up on other teams for not so much money or prospects. Where were the padres? Oh yeah they signed a bear claw. What a joke! Yea…will will fight for 81 season again. Let the heads roll now!!!