What years did Kirk Saarloos play?

Kirk Saarloos played in Major League Baseball from 2002 to 2008.

Was Kirk Saarloos a pitcher?

Yes. Kirk Saarloos pitched in the major leagues, recording 29 wins and 251 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Kirk Saarloos hit?

Kirk Saarloos hit 0 career home runs with 3 hits.

What teams did Kirk Saarloos play for?

Kirk Saarloos played for 3 teams: the Houston Astros (2002–2003), the Oakland Athletics (2004–2006, 2008), and the Cincinnati Reds (2007).

What were Kirk Saarloos's career stats?

In 165 games, Kirk Saarloos went 29-30 with a 5.02 ERA, 251 strikeouts, 509.0 innings pitched, and 2 saves.

What was Kirk Saarloos's salary?

Kirk Saarloos's last recorded salary was $1,200,000, in 2007. His highest recorded salary was $1,200,000, in 2007, and his lowest was $354,000, in 2006. The Salary History table lists each season from 2006 to 2007.

What position did Kirk Saarloos play?

Kirk Saarloos played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Kirk Saarloos and how much did he weigh?

Kirk Saarloos was listed at 6 feet and 185 pounds.

What was Kirk Saarloos's career ERA?

Kirk Saarloos finished with a 5.02 career ERA, going 29-30 with 251 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Kirk Saarloos have?

Kirk Saarloos recorded 251 career strikeouts.

Is Kirk Saarloos in the Hall of Fame?

No. Kirk Saarloos has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Kirk Saarloos

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (2002-2008)

Kirk Saarloos was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 2002 to 2008 for the Houston Astros, the Athletics, and the Cincinnati Reds, a span of 7 seasons. Across 165 career appearances, he went 29-30 with a 5.02 ERA and 251 strikeouts.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 15, 2026

W–L 29–30

ERA 5.02

WHIP 1.53

SO 251

Pitcher PIV -6271.5

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'0" / 185 lb
Born: 5/23/1979 in Long Beach, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 2002-06-18
Last Game: 2008-09-20

Full name: Kirk Craig Saarloos

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Career Pitching Statistics

Kirk Saarloos — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
29	30	165	73	3	2	2	509.0	592	284	60	186	251	5.02	-6271.5

Career ERA 5.02 vs. league average 4.39 across their career seasons — 14.3% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Kirk Saarloos — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
2002	HOU	NL	6	7	17	17	1	1	0	85.1	100	57	27	54	6.01	4.28 (-41%)	-867.5
2003	HOU	NL	2	1	36	4	0	0	0	49.1	55	27	17	43	4.93	4.40 (-12%)	1048.0
2004	OAK	AL	2	1	6	5	0	0	0	24.1	27	12	12	10	4.44	4.46 (+1%)	-989.0
2005	OAK	AL	10	9	29	27	2	1	0	159.2	170	74	54	53	4.17	4.29 (+3%)	-726.9
2006	OAK	AL	7	7	35	16	0	0	2	121.1	149	64	53	52	4.75	4.53 (-5%)	-3588.7
2007	CIN	NL	1	5	34	3	0	0	0	42.2	54	34	19	27	7.17	4.47 (-60%)	-1584.3
2008	OAK	AL	1	0	8	1	0	0	0	26.1	37	16	4	12	5.47	4.32 (-26%)	436.9
Career · 7 seasons			29	30	165	73	3	2	2	509.0	592	284	186	251	5.02	—	-6,271

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

Kirk Saarloos — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
165	41	1	3	2	0	0	5	0	1	12	.073	.095	.122	.217	0

Career AVG .073 vs. league average .265 across their career seasons — 72.4% below league average.

Career OBP .095 vs. league average .334 across their career seasons — 71.4% below league average.

Career SLG .122 vs. league average .422 across their career seasons — 71.1% below league average.

Career OPS .217 vs. league average .756 across their career seasons — 71.3% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Kirk Saarloos — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
2002	HOU	NL	17	30	0	2	1	2	0	11	.067	—	—	—	—	0.0
2003	HOU	NL	36	5	0	0	0	1	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2004	OAK	AL	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2005	OAK	AL	29	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2006	OAK	AL	35	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2007	CIN	NL	34	5	1	1	1	2	0	1	.200	—	—	—	—	0.0
2008	OAK	AL	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 7 seasons			165	41	1	3	2	5	1	12	.073	—	—	—	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (330 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Kirk Saarloos — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	81	17	1	1	0	2	.059
Away	84	24	0	2	0	3	.083

Pitching — Home / Away

Kirk Saarloos — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	81	262.0	310	142	96	117	4.88
Away	84	247.0	282	142	90	134	5.17

Last 10 Games — Batting

Kirk Saarloos — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	RBI
2008-09-20	OAK	SEA	W	0	0	0	0	0
2008-09-11	OAK	TEX	L	0	0	0	0	0
2008-09-04	OAK	KCR	L	0	0	0	0	0
2008-08-29	OAK	MIN	L	0	0	0	0	0
2008-08-24	OAK	SEA	L	0	0	0	0	0
2008-08-18	OAK	MIN	W	0	0	0	0	0
2008-04-17	OAK	SEA	L	0	0	0	0	0
2008-04-15	OAK	CHW	L	0	0	0	0	0
2007-09-26	CIN	HOU	L	2	1	1	1	2
2007-09-15	CIN	MIL	L	1	0	0	0	0

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Kirk Saarloos — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2008-09-20	OAK	SEA	—	3.1	7	5	5	1	0	1
2008-09-11	OAK	TEX	—	3.0	3	0	0	0	2	0
2008-09-04	OAK	KCR	—	1.2	3	0	0	0	0	0
2008-08-29	OAK	MIN	—	5.0	12	5	5	0	4	0
2008-08-24	OAK	SEA	—	2.0	5	4	4	1	2	1
2008-08-18	OAK	MIN	W	3.2	3	0	0	0	3	0
2008-04-17	OAK	SEA	—	5.2	4	3	2	2	0	0
2008-04-15	OAK	CHW	—	2.0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2007-09-26	CIN	HOU	—	3.1	4	2	2	1	3	2
2007-09-15	CIN	MIL	L	4.0	6	3	3	1	3	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Kirk Saarloos — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	165	73	46	104	6	10

Season-by-Season Fielding

Kirk Saarloos — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
2002	HOU	P	17	17	8	14	1	3
2003	HOU	P	36	4	2	6	2	1
2004	OAK	P	6	5	2	9	0	1
2005	OAK	P	29	27	22	33	2	3
2006	OAK	P	35	16	9	27	0	1
2007	CIN	P	34	3	2	11	1	1
2008	OAK	P	8	1	1	4	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Kirk Saarloos — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	165

Awards & Honors

Kirk Saarloos — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
2002	Rookie of the Month	July

Salary History

Kirk Saarloos's recorded salaries total $1,554,000 over 2 seasons, 2006 to 2007. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Saarloos's career ran from 2002 to 2008. No salary is recorded for 5 of his seasons between 1985 and 2016.

Kirk Saarloos — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2007	CIN	NL	$1,200,000
2006	OAK	AL	$354,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$1,554,000

College History

Kirk Saarloos — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
California State University Fullerton	Fullerton	CA	1998, 1999, 2000, 2001

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Kirk Saarloos (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Kirk Saarloos: the record in brief

Between the debut on June 18, 2002 and the final game on September 20, 2008, Kirk Saarloos built the record summarized on this page. The team column moves through the Houston Astros (2002 to 2003), the Oakland Athletics (2004 through 2008), and the Cincinnati Reds (2007). Saarloos is listed as a pitcher at 6-foot-0 and 185 pounds. The bio says Saarloos threw and hit right-handed. Saarloos was born on May 23, 1979, in Long Beach, CA, USA. The bio lists the given name Kirk Craig.

Across 165 games (73 starts), Saarloos recorded 29 wins against 30 losses with a 5.02 ERA. The same table counts 251 strikeouts. The league ERA over Saarloos's seasons was 4.39, so the 5.02 figure ran 14.3% worse than average. 2005 brought Saarloos a season-high 10 wins. The strikeout high was 54 in 2002. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 4.17 in 2005, when the league's was 4.29.

The awards table records Rookie of the Month, in 2002.

Frequently Asked Questions about Kirk Saarloos

What years did Kirk Saarloos play?: Kirk Saarloos played in Major League Baseball from 2002 to 2008.
Was Kirk Saarloos a pitcher?: Yes. Kirk Saarloos pitched in the major leagues, recording 29 wins and 251 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Kirk Saarloos hit?: Kirk Saarloos hit 0 career home runs with 3 hits.
What teams did Kirk Saarloos play for?: Kirk Saarloos played for 3 teams: the Houston Astros (2002–2003), the Oakland Athletics (2004–2006, 2008), and the Cincinnati Reds (2007).
What were Kirk Saarloos's career stats?: In 165 games, Kirk Saarloos went 29-30 with a 5.02 ERA, 251 strikeouts, 509.0 innings pitched, and 2 saves.
How much did Kirk Saarloos earn in his career?: Kirk Saarloos's recorded salaries total $1,554,000 over 2 seasons, 2006 to 2007. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Saarloos's career ran from 2002 to 2008. No salary is recorded for 5 of his seasons between 1985 and 2016.
What was Kirk Saarloos's salary?: Kirk Saarloos's last recorded salary was $1,200,000, in 2007. His highest recorded salary was $1,200,000, in 2007, and his lowest was $354,000, in 2006. The Salary History table lists each season from 2006 to 2007.
What position did Kirk Saarloos play?: Kirk Saarloos played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Kirk Saarloos and how much did he weigh?: Kirk Saarloos was listed at 6 feet and 185 pounds.
What was Kirk Saarloos's career ERA?: Kirk Saarloos finished with a 5.02 career ERA, going 29-30 with 251 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Kirk Saarloos have?: Kirk Saarloos recorded 251 career strikeouts.
Is Kirk Saarloos in the Hall of Fame?: No. Kirk Saarloos has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.