ARLINGTON — The reinvented Rangers' bullpen wasn’t exactly flush with certified high-leverage arms to begin with, and by the middle of the season’s first month, the two arms they figured could fill those roles the best were on the injured list.
They placed faith in an inexperienced Rule 5 draft choice, and after about a week of games, he was sidelined too. His replacement didn’t last much longer before his own injury, and because of that, the Rangers turned to a pair of rookies who were rather off the radar until about two months ago to help thicken a relief staff that’s currently anchored by the guy who was nearly their fifth starter.
And, if you can believe it, it actually hasn’t sunk them.
It didn’t Saturday, at least, when the bullpen combined for four scoreless one-hit innings in a 4-3 win against the Athletics at Globe Life Field. The quartet of right-hander Cole Winn, left-hander Jalen Beeks, right-hander Jakob Junis and left-hander Jacob Latz maintained a lead staked by third baseman Josh Jung’s sixth-inning, two-run home run and helped pull the Rangers back above .500 with a win over a divisional opponent.
JOSH JUNG GIVES THE RANGERS THE LEAD WITH A 2-RUN SHOT!💥(via @Rangers | #AllForTX)pic.twitter.com/ZfxOcTSYSF
The unit’s 2.95 ERA leads the American League. Their 0.8 WAR accumulated, per FanGraphs, ranks fourth. They do not have an established closer to speak of, which has led to three blown saves and the occasional hijinks in the season’s first month, and the lack thereof has forced Rangers manager Skip Schumaker to get creative with how he deploys the options at his disposal in late-game scenarios.
“We’ve asked a lot from our bullpen early on,” Schumaker said Saturday night. “All they’ve done is post and done an incredible job in different roles.”
Take Latz for example. He spent his spring in competition with right-hander Kumar Rocker for the fifth-starter job, lost the battle and still made his first appearance of the season in the rotation when right-hander Jacob deGrom’s neck stiffened up two games into the year. He’s pitched one inning or fewer in nine of his 10 games since, allowed all of two runs in relief and has been thrust into a high-leverage role in the back of the bullpen.
He recorded his first save of the season Saturday when he pitched a perfect ninth inning against the top of the Athletics' order.
“I like throwing more often anyway,” Latz, the owner of a 1.32 ERA this season, said. “The starting role is obviously great. It’s a bigger role, but the repeated amount out there, and a little bit shorter stints, it’s easier because you can kind of free yourself up to have your best stuff and not think too much. I personally love throwing frequently.”
He was set up by Junis (who was elevated into a quasi-closer role and now leads the team with three saves) in the eighth, Beeks (who was signed in the middle of camp and now has a 1.50 ERA) in the seventh and Winn (whose 4.50 ERA is actually the highest of their healthy full-time relievers) in the sixth. The ordeal worked as executed because left-handed starter MacKenzie Gore gutted through five innings. Gore, who allowed three runs, threw his 68th pitch in the third inning and was on a path to a short start that’d tax the bullpen.
Gore threw 22 pitches in the fourth, 16 more in the fifth and even waved Schumaker off when a call to the bullpen was broached after he’d eclipsed the 100-pitch threshold.
“If he doesn’t get through the fifth inning and tell me 'I’ve got this, I can finish it,'” that changes a lot of things as someone coming in dirty then going back out, who knows what happens there,” Schumaker said. “By him getting through that fifth inning, it really set us up to come from behind, and ultimately win the game.”
The bullpen was there to receive the baton. That’s despite the fact that right-hander Chris Martin and left-hander Robert Garcia — the expected candidates to close games early in the season — both struggled in high-leverage opportunities before they landed on the injured list. Right-hander Carter Baumler, the Rule 5 draftee with a nasty curveball, went down with an intercostal strain before either of them. Luis Curvelo, the right-hander called up to replace him, strained a bicep after that.
It led the Rangers to right-handers Gavin Collyer (who hadn’t pitched above Double-A prior to this season) and Peyton Gray (who bounced between independent ball and international winter leagues before he caught on with Texas last season) for reinforcement. Neither has allowed a run in six combined appearances.
The long-term viability of it all is a different subject. The Rangers should have a closer or, at the very least, a tenured high-leverage arm near the top of their to-acquire list either at this year’s trade deadline or before it. They’d benefit from an in-form Martin, a Garcia who can perform under pressure or a Baumler who proves why the Rangers chose to roster him.
“It’s the next-man-up type thing,” Latz said. “That’s just what we preach here. Stay true to yourself, don’t let the situation determine how you pitch, stick to the game plan, do what you’ve been doing, throw strikes. It’s cool to be in these roles, that’s what everyone wants, so it’s good to deliver.”