Saarloos graduated from Valley Christian High School in Cerritos, California, where he was a three-sport (baseball, football and soccer) athlete.

He attended California State University, Fullerton, where he established himself as one of the best closers in college baseball during his sophomore and junior seasons.

[1][2] In 2001, his senior year, Saarloos became a starting pitcher (the new closer was Chad Cordero) and established himself as the ace of the staff, winning 15 games with a 2.18 earned run average (ERA).

[4] Saarloos quickly rose in the Astros organization, making brief stops with the Double-A Round Rock Express and the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs before being called up to the major leagues in his second year as a professional.

He also contributed to the Astros' six-pitcher no-hitter of the New York Yankees on June 11, throwing the last out of the third inning and all of the fourth.

He was widely considered to be among the best #5 starters in the American League, sporting one of the lowest home run rates.

On January 15, 2008, Saarloos signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the Oakland Athletics.

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.

[9] In 2012, Saarloos returned to Cal State Fullerton as their full-time pitching coach and assisted in recruiting.

In 2022, Saarloos led the Horned Frogs to a regular season Big 12 Championship, and an appearance in the College Station regional.