Luke Barker

[jonescm128]

Has there been any reason given as to why we have not seen Luke Barker in the majors? Given the state of our bullpen over the last couple weeks its crazy that he hasn't been given a shot, instead relying on guys like John Axford, Sal Ramano, Angel Perdomo, etc. He has consistently put up great numbers in the minors and rarely walks guys. What am I missing?

[Madhawk23]

Yeah, I think this has been a head scratcher for a couple of years now, as the Brewers have always been very slow in promoting Barker - despite putting up pretty dominant numbers at every level of the minor leagues. Does anyone know if it is more of a "stuff" issue with him? Does he simply not have 1-2 really great pitches that it would take to get big league hitters out?

[Mass Haas]

I know for sure Barker was topping out in the low 90's (at best) heading into 2021. Perhaps that has changed based on this season's efforts.

 

But he definitely is not a big velocity guy, and the Brewers love themselves big velocity guys.

[WV Brew]

Barker is pretty much a split finger guy. He is not a particularly hard thrower unless something has changed. As I recall, he does have the ability to make the splitter go in or out to a hitter for what that's worth. Still, I might have preferred him to trading away Henry for Curtiss or going with Norris.

[CheeseheadInQC]

I rarely hope the Brewers lose guys in the Rule 5 draft, for obvious reasons, but I'm to the point where I'd cheer if someone selected Barker after the season. Most true presumed AAAA guys (the ones who excel in AAA, especially from Day 1, not just top out at AAA) eventually get at least a chance at the big league level to show if they are more than that, and I really hope Barker gets that chance as well.

[JohnBriggs12]

Barker is pretty much a split finger guy. He is not a particularly hard thrower unless something has changed. As I recall, he does have the ability to make the splitter go in or out to a hitter for what that's worth. Still, I might have preferred him to trading away Henry for Curtiss or going with Norris.

 

The splitter is a very effective wipeout pitch. He's allowed less than half a hit per inning in 72 career innings in AAA and walked less than 2 per. Either he commands his low 90s fastball very well or cuts it because he misses barrels. He's got one ability Curtiss doesn't have too. Availability.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

I'm a big fan but the time to add Barker was when players were going on COVID list, where we could have returned him to AAA without optioning/DFA him. Now if they bring him up, he will need to stay on the 40 man roster or DFA him. We are going to have a 40 man roster crunch, as there are a lot of players coming back soon. If they need someone for a day or two, they could go to Bettinger, Lobstein, or Yardley. Yardley has actually looked pretty good since his early rough start.

[clancyphile]

Yeah, it really did bug me that the Crew has not given some of the guys like Barker, Hummel (traded), or even Otero shots.

 

Calling up Barker would have been preferable to dealing Henry for Curtiss.

[Greenleaf1]

The odd thing was that the COVID situation seemed to make this a no-brainer. He could've been added to the 40-man to replace anybody, then taken off the 40-man without being exposed to waivers when someone came back from COVID. Yet they decided to sign Romano instead.

 

That said, #FreeNateOrf didn't really amount to much except for one spectacular moment. Sometimes a 29 year old minor leaguer with good numbers is still in the minors for a reason. But I'd like to see him get his shot somewhere, and I hope this has nothing to do with his statements about terrible conditions in the minors (which he's 100% right about).

[damuelle]

I’m calling it.

 

I figure Luke Barker is making his way from Louisville to Pittsburgh now, so that he’ll be available in our ‘pen tomorrow.

 

After watching 3 right-handed relievers struggle in the opener today, with another 2 recently placed on the injured list and 1 DFA’d, it’s time.

 

It’s definitely Luke Barker time.