Tony Barnette

Position: RHP
Born: 11/9/1983
Height: 6'1
Weight: 190
B/T: R/R
Acquired: Signed as a minor league free agent on December 15, 2015 (TEX). Originally drafted in the 10th round of the 2006 MLB First-Year Player Draft (ARI).

Most Recent Stats at Time of Debut
2015 SEASON STATS: Went 3-1 with a 1.29 ERA and 41 saves in 59 games for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, striking out 56 while walking 19 in 62.2 IP.

Info & MLB Debut Date
Already on the 40-man roster, he made the club out of spring training.
MLB Debut Date: 4/5/2016

Debut Details
April 5, in a 10-2 loss to the Mariners. The second of five pitchers, he took the loss. Coming on in the seventh inning in a 2-2 tie, he allowed two runs, both earned, on three hits over 0.2 IP, striking out one. After giving up a leadoff single to Seth Smith, he retired the next two batters before Leonys Martin delivered an RBI double and Nori Aoki followed with an RBI single. Barnette faced five batters, delivering 16 pitches, 12 of them for strikes.

Player Notes
After being an innings-eater Stateside with back-to-back-to-back seasons of 150 or more innings, he moved into relief when he signed with Yakult in Japan, and it signaled a career turnaround. With the club for the last six years, he worked in the closer role and posted mixed results that included some pretty spectacular numbers, as his 2015 stats will attest.

2080 Notes
2080’s Dave DeFreitas on Barnette: “Tony is a pretty high-energy guy; always had good stuff, but had trouble harnessing everything for more than an inning or two. It was a good move by Yakult to move him to the pen, where he could just focus on his hard stuff. I think to be successful in the U.S., he will need to be able to go backwards and forwards a little bit better, but he throws a heavy ball and the cutter is plus. He deserves a lot of credit for the adjustments he’s made to this point and Texas is a good organization for him.” You can read DeFreitas’ full scouting report on Tony Barnette here