Barlow Proving to Be Valuable Addition to Bullpen - Billy Barlow proving his worth in relief role

CLEMSON- Since moving out of his midweek role and into a relief role a few weeks back, Billy Barlow has mostly provided a steady hand out of the Clemson bullpen.

Two weeks ago, he held Georgia Tech to just two runs across four innings of work, in a high-leverage situation. On Saturday, he did it again, holding Boston College to just one unearned run over three innings, after coming in to relieve starter Tristan Smith.

“All my pitches were working,” Barlow said after the Game 2 win. “We prepare the best that we can throughout the week. There was an inning where I wasn’t winning the slider. Came in talked to (Jimmy Belanger), made an adjustment and went out there and started throwing it for strikes. Preparation is key.”

In picking up the win on Friday, Barlow is now 6-1 on the season, with a respectable ERA of 4.30 and solid WHIP of 1.39.

With the regular season set to come to an end on Saturday and postseason play on deck, head coach Erik Bakich now has one more piece in his bullpen. And with the Tigers getting very few quality starts out of its starting pitchers in recent weeks, having a guy like Barlow, who can come in and give you multiple innings, is huge for a bullpen that’s had its share of struggles of late.

“With no midweek games, he filled a very valuable role there being able to start, but also now being able to be the long relief guy, it’s huge,” Bakich said. “We have not been the team that has starters go six, seven, eight innings. (Aidan) Knaak has dome it a few times, (Ethan) Darden has done it at times, and Tristan (Smith) could, but his pitch count usually gets up there.”

In fact, going back to the Tigers’ weekend series against Louisville three weeks ago, Darden has given Clemson three quality starts, but no other starter has made it through five complete innings. And with the bullpen being leaned on a little more heavily, Barlow could end up playing a key role in any postseason success the Tigers may experience.

“So having a guy like that, like a fourth starter a guy who started games, gone through a lineup once, maybe twice, that’s huge,” Bakich said. “That is going to be a really valuable role going forward as we get into tournament baseball.”

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