Scott Barlow saved 16 games with a 2.42 ERA for the 2021 Kansas City Royals and certainly seemed like the obvious choice for closer duties this season, but eight games into the season the Royals have one save, and Barlow did not get it.
Josh Staumont earned the ninth inning Saturday in the win over the Detroit Tigers, and that was with Barlow recording four outs as the setup man. Normally this would not be such a big deal, since the pitchers were statistically comparable a season ago.
Of course, Barlow is rostered in 82.3% of ESPN standard leagues, while Staumont sits at 2.3%. Yeah, that is quite a difference, and depending on which pitcher manager Mike Matheny calls upon for the next save, those figures will either look smart or ... far from it.