2. Texas Rangers
While I understand that the Texas Rangers play in a bandbox of a stadium in Arlington, what they’ve been able to do with such an inept bullpen is truly amazing. They’re currently sitting at 31-22 and tied for first place in the AL West. The Rangers pen’s 5.21 ERA and .287 batting average against are good for second-to-last and last in the league, respectively.
They are second worst in the league in OPS against (.847), home runs surrendered (31), and WHIP (1.51). As a group, they’ve pitched 164 innings which is five below the league average, so they aren’t worn out. Manager Jeff Banister has gone on-record and said that his management of the bullpen has been “imperfect” but there may be no other way for him to manage it. He only trusts a few relievers, and when he has to go to the middle men, it almost always ends in a loss.
“The easy answer is that we’ve got to have somebody else step up and be able to close out four and five-run games, but we’ve blown seven saves,” Banister said before Wednesday’s game. “We’ve lost multiple-run leads to a point where we had to change closers. When you don’t hold on to leads, it does something to the psyche of a club.”
As Bannister noted, the Rangers have blown seven saves which is only one higher than the league average, but when you’re in the middle of a pennant race that can be costly.
“There was a trend going that had to be reversed,” he added. “The management of the bullpen has been somewhat imperfect, but we are continuing to nail down games so that we can keep winning.”
Next: Cincinnati