Kirk Saarloos
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Kirk Craig Saarloos (born May 23, 1979 in Long Beach, California) is a right-handed major-league pitcher for the Oakland Athletics. He has been used both in starting and relief situations.
Saarloos graduated from Valley Christian High School in Cerritos, CA a three-sport (baseball, football, soccer) athlete. He attended California State University, Fullerton where he established himself as one of the best closers in college baseball during his sophomore and junior seasons. In 2001 , his senior year, he became a starter (the new closer was current Washington Nationals closer Chad Cordero) and established himself as the ace of the staff, winning 15 games with a 2.18 ERA. He was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft in the 3rd round, the 86th overall pick.
Saarloos quickly rose up in the Astros organization, making brief stops in Round Rock and New Orleans before being called up to the major leagues his second year as a professional. In 2002 he went 6-7 with a 6.01 ERA with Houston and was sent down to New Orleans for the next season. In 2003 he again pitched very well in the minors but posted a 4.93 ERA in 36 games for the big club. It was around this time he caught the eye of Oakland Athletics assistant general manager Paul DePodesta. A few weeks into the 2004 season, after appearing in only 2 games for New Orleans, he was traded to the A's for Chad Harville. They sent him to Triple-A Sacramento, where he pitched well enough to receive a call-up and start 5 games for Oakland.
In 2005, with Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson traded away, the Athletics had openings in their rotation. Saarloos beat out Keiichi Yabu and Juan Cruz to win the last starter spot in the rotation. Saarloos succeeded, going 10-9 with a 4.17 ERA in 27 starts. He was generally considered to be the best #5 starter in the American League.
With the signing of veteran starter Esteban Loaiza before the 2006 season, the A's planned to bump Saarloos to the bullpen. He figured to be used in many varying relief roles, much like Justin Duchscherer was in 2005, but also as a spot starter.
Trivia
- Saarloos was part of the no-hitter that involved him and five other Astros in 2003. He pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief after Roy Oswalt left with an injury.
External links
- [Kirk Saarloos] at ESPN.com
- [Baseball-Reference.com] - career statistics and analysis
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