Better late than never. 239 comments


Finishing strong: In his last two starts, Yu Darvish is 2-0 with twenty-one strikeouts and just two walks. Opponents are hitting just .109.

Finishing strong: In his last two starts, Yu Darvish is 2-0 with twenty-one strikeouts and just two walks. Opponents are hitting just .109.

It’s featured guys like Yohander Mendez, Anthony Raunado, Michael Roth, Luke Jackson, and Tom Wilhelmsen whose ERAs respectively were, and this is not a typo: 18.00, 17.19, 14.73, 10.80, and 10.55.

Then there were the guys who were just classified as bad: Chi Chi Gonzales 8.71, Dario Alvarez 8.71, Andrew Faulkner 6.75, Cesar Ramos 6.04, and Phil Klein 5.19.

The Rangers bullpen has been brutal.

That’s why, when you look at the raw numbers, the numbers are pretty raw: The Rangers have, statistically, the second worse bullpen in the American League. For the first time all season, though, it’s not the worst.

Things are looking up. Way up. And at the perfect time.

Last night, after a masterfully pitched twelve-strikeout, six-inning performance from Yu Darvish, four Rangers relievers—Tony Barnett, Jake Diekman, Matt Bush and Sam Dyson—pitched three scoreless innings. That pushed the Rangers’ relievers’ consecutive scoreless innings streak to an all-time Rangers best at twenty-nine and two-thirds.

For five and a half-months, the Rangers bullpen didn’t go twenty-nine and two-thirds seconds without giving up a run. In one game, Luke Jackson gave up six runs while warming up.

This isn’t just remarkable. It is a total transformation. It’s like Kanye West saying something intelligent. It’s pretty much impossible.

But it has happened.

It took a while for Banister to find the right parts, but he kept trying. And, to his total credit, his team kept winning while he tinkered.

Look at how they are finishing in September:

Sam Dyson is 2-0 with an ERA of 0.82, and eight saves.

Matt Bush: 1-0, 1.26.

Tony Barnette was injured for most of the month, but his September is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA.

Alex Claudio: 1-0, 2.79.

Even Keona Kela has been better, if not great. After struggling in August with at near-Wilhelmson levels of 9.35, his September ERA is a bit more reliable 4.82.

Diekman’s September ERA is 9.00, so last night’s scoreless inning was a good sign.

The bullpen has been a work in progress since opening day.

 It’s comforting to see where it has progressed to. 

*****
TODAY’S GAME:

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Jake Odorizzi (9-6, 3.77) vs. Colby Lewis (6-4, 3.93)
Game time: 7:05

How the Rays hit against Lewis.
How the Rangers hit against Odorizzi.

TEXAS CLINCHES HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE.