Texas Rangers: Do they have a closer in Alex Claudio?
By Jason Evans
Part of the Texas Rangers struggles this season has been an inability to close games. Can Alex Claudio be the guy?
The Texas Rangers are in the thick of the AL Wild Card race, like almost every AL team is this year, however, if not for their early bullpen struggles, they may be in a much better spot. The Rangers have the worst save percentage in the American League this year. They have blown 17 of 37 save opportunities. They got rid of Sam Dyson after his early struggles and have used guys like Matt Bush in the role.
They recently turned to lefty Alex Claudio to do the job and he’s been pretty good. He’s gotten six saves in the second half of the season, posting a 2.11 ERA. For the season he is 2-1 with a 2.55 ERA. However, given his recent success in the closer role, can he sustain it?
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Usually, teams want those power arms at the end of games like Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen or Edwin Diaz. Claudio is the exact opposite. Per Fangraphs, Claudio averages just 86.6 with his fastball. His K percentage is up to 18.4% this year, where last year it was was just 15.7. Opponents are hitting just .232 against him, compared to .267 in 2016.
His ERA this year is 2.55 but his xFIP is 3.18, so he’s been a bit lucky this season.
Claudio is a nice left-handed piece to a bullpen and although he’s had some recent success with this role, I’m not quite sure how long he can sustain it. For one thing, righties are hitting .287 against him this year while lefties hit .115. It’s hard to be that crossover, closing kind of pitcher when you have such drastic splits.
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With arms like Wade Davis, Addison Reed and Brandon Kintzler set to test free agency, I would expect the Rangers to dip into the free agent market, or even make a trade for a power reliever as their closer next year.
Claudio is having a nice stretch, but I don’t believe he is the long-term answer in the closer role.