| Kirk Saarloos | |
|---|---|
 | |
| TCU Horned Frogs | |
| Head Coach /Pitcher | |
| Born: (1979-05-23)May 23, 1979 (age 46) Long Beach, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 18, 2002, for the Houston Astros | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 20, 2008, for the Oakland Athletics | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 29–30 |
| Earned run average | 5.02 |
| Strikeouts | 251 |
| NCAA statistics (through May 19,2025) | |
| Managerial record | 152-84 |
| Winning % | .644 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
As player
As coach
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| As player: As Coach:
| |
Kirk Craig Saarloos (born May 23, 1979) is an Americanbaseball coach and formerpitcher, who is the current head baseball coach of theTCU Horned Frogs. He playedcollege baseball atCal State Fullerton for coachGeorge Horton from 1999 to 2001 and played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for seven seasons from 2002 to 2008.
TheHouston Astros selected Saarloos in the third round of the2001 Major League Baseball Draft. He played 7 years a pitcher in MLB, with Houston from 2002 to 2003, theOakland Athletics 2004 to 2006,Cincinnati Reds in 2007 before returning to Oakland in 2008.
Saarloos graduated fromValley Christian High School inCerritos, California, where he was a three-sport (baseball,football andsoccer) athlete. He attendedCalifornia State University, Fullerton, where he established himself as one of the best closers incollege baseball during his sophomore and junior seasons. In 1999, he playedcollegiate summer baseball with theCotuit Kettleers of theCape Cod Baseball League.[1][2]
In2001, his senior year, Saarloos became a starting pitcher (the new closer wasChad Cordero) and established himself as theace of the staff, winning 15 games with a 2.18earned run average (ERA). On April 9, 2001, he threw ano-hitter againstPacific as he struck out 11 and retired 22 consecutive batters before a two-out infield error in the ninth inning, but he got the next batter to end the game.[3] He was drafted by theHouston Astros in the2001 Major League Baseball Draft in the third round as the 86th overall pick.[4]
Saarloos quickly rose in the Astros organization, making brief stops with the Double-ARound Rock Express and theTriple-ANew Orleans Zephyrs before being called up to the major leagues in his second year as a professional. In2002, he went 6–7 with a 6.01 ERA with Houston and was sent down to New Orleans for the next season. In2003, he again pitched very well in the minors but posted a 4.93 ERAin 36 games for the big club. He also contributed to the Astros' six-pitcherno-hitter of theNew York Yankees on June 11, throwing the last out of the third inning and all of the fourth.[5]
A few weeks into the2004 season, after appearing in only two games for New Orleans, he was traded to the Athletics forChad Harville. They sent him to the Triple-ASacramento River Cats, where he pitched well enough to receive a call-up and start five games for Oakland.
In2005, withMark Mulder andTim Hudson traded away, the Athletics had openings in their rotation. Saarloos beat outKeiichi Yabu andJuan 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 widely considered to be among the best #5 starters in theAmerican League, sporting one of the lowest home run rates.[6]
With the signing of veteran starterEsteban Loaiza before the2006 season, the Athletics bumped Saarloos to the bullpen. Soon after,Rich Harden got injured, and Saarloos was put in as a fifth starter for a few games. He was also used in many varying relief roles, much likeJustin Duchscherer was in 2005, but also as a spot starter. Shifting between the bullpen and the rotation, Saarloos finished with a record of 7–7 in 35 games for the A's. He allowed more home runs (19) than the previous season (11). On January 19,2007, Saarloos signed a one-year $1.2 million deal with the Athletics.
On January 23, 2007, Saarloos was traded to theCincinnati Reds for minor league reliever David Shafer. Both teams also received a player to be named later. On May 28, 2007, Saarloos was sent to the minors after failing to retire any of the seven batters he faced in a 14–10 loss to thePittsburgh Pirates the night before. In his lone season with the Reds, Saarloos had a 7.17 ERA in 42.2 innings. On October 12, 2007, Saarloos was outrighted to the minor leagues. He refused the assignment and became afree agent.
On January 15,2008, Saarloos signed a minor league contract with an invitation tospring training with the Oakland Athletics. On April 14, he was added to the major league roster but was designated for assignment on April 23. He was sent outright to Triple-A on April 25. On August 18, Saarloos was recalled. He became a free agent at the end of the season.
Saarloos signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with theCleveland Indians in January2009;[7] after training camp, he was sent to minor league camp on March 24, 2009.[8] He went 3–10 in 16 games at the AAA level. He retired after the 2009 season.
Saarloos had a variety of pitches, including a four-seamfastball, acurveball, aslider, and achangeup. However, his best pitch was his mid-to-high 80ssinker. For this reason, Saarloos was known predominantly as a sinkerball specialist and as such, got few strikeouts (batters tend to hit groundballs when faced with a sinker). In fact, his 2.99 strikeouts per nine innings in 2005 ranked third to last in Major League Baseball and was the lowest mark in Oakland Athletics history for a starting pitcher.
Saarloos was on the 2011Cal State Fullerton coaching staff as an undergraduate assistant coach. His primary duties were as pitching coach. Opposing teams batted .250 against his pitchers, and he coachedBig West Pitcher of the YearDylan Floro and four Freshmen All-American pitchers.[9] In 2012, Saarloos returned to Cal State Fullerton as their full-time pitching coach and assisted in recruiting. He became the pitching coach atTexas Christian University in the summer of 2012.[9] He led the team to the lowest ERA in school history since 1968.[9]
He was named the head coach at TCU on June 15, 2021. In 2022, Saarloos led the Horned Frogs to a regular season Big 12 Championship, and an appearance in the College Station regional. In 2023, the Horned Frogs finished 4th in the Big 12 regular season standings, won the Big 12 tournament championship, and won the Fayetteville Regional. They beat Indiana State in the Super Regionals and advanced to the College World Series.
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TCU Horned Frogs(Big 12 Conference)(2022–present) | |||||||||
| 2022 | TCU | 38–22 | 16–8 | 1st | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 2023 | TCU | 44–24 | 13–11 | 4th | College World Series | ||||
| 2024 | TCU | 33–21 | 14–16 | 9th | Big 12 tournament | ||||
| 2025 | TCU | 39–20 | 19–11 | 3rd | NCAA Regional | ||||
| TCU: | 154–87 | 62–46 | |||||||
| Total: | 154–87 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
· Baseball Almanac| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | No-hit game June 11,2003 (withOswalt,Munro,Lidge,Dotel, &Wagner) | Succeeded by |
