The Wolfpack: Analyzing the Texas Rangers’ bullpen

A bullpen is a very fickle creature. It must be treated with care and respect, not loathing and contempt.

Except for guys who can’t throw strikes. They need to be dreaded.

The Texas Rangers‘ bullpen had a bad April. It was full of guys who gave up too many hits, couldn’t throw strikes and generally just sucked.

In May, they’ve been much better, locking down a lot of leads in a seemingly endless string of close games.

But are there reasons to be concerned? An explanation after the jump.

- The Rangers have played 18 one-run games, including an amazing six on this homestand alone. They went 4-2 in those six, a fine mark. They’ve played the most one-run games in the American League, with only Dusty Baker’s Cardiac Reds matching them for most in baseball.

- What does that mean? It means that the best bullpen arms for the Rangers have to be relied upon a lot. A LOT. It’s as if each member of the bullpen is a weightlifter and each game is five pounds that gets added on to the barbell. Sooner or later, they collapse. Also known as “Jamey Wright syndrome”, this collapse occurs when a pitcher is overworked in the first half of the season and proceeds to have an ERA in the neighborhood of 8 over the last couple of months.

- Only two pitchers for the Rangers last season had as many as 60 appearances: C.J. Wilson and Darren O’Day. Both had stellar years out of the bullpen, and O’Day has continued that (Saturday notwithstanding) with Wilson moving into the rotation with great success, despite struggling lately. All things considered, the Rangers bullpen was pretty solid last year, especially once Neftali Feliz joined the fun.

- This year the Rangers have five players who already have more than 20 appearances, with Dustin Nippert sitting at 19. Doug Mathis has already been shipped back to AAA, and Guillermo Moscoso earned himself a return ticket to Oklahoma City after Thursday night’s display in the blowout of Baltimore. So Ron Washington has pretty much been forced to go with a six-man bullpen this year.

- Is this such a bad thing? Of the five main pitchers in the pen (Feliz, Francisco, Oliver, Ray, O’Day), only Darren Oliver is averaging more than 1 inning per appearance. (Feliz is at 23.1 IP in 23 games, but that’s close enough to 1.) The question is whether these pitchers will wear down from continuous use or overuse. While all of them are on pace to average in the mid-80s in appearances, none of them would be close to 90 innings pitched on the season if they keep their current averages.

- In the end, it’s probably a moot point. If we are still worried about these pitchers being overworked in August, that means they will have remained healthy for the entire season. That bodes well for the fortunes of this club, because the bullpen has been just fine in the month of May. It’s not a coincidence that the Texas Rangers are 15-8 in the month of May with the stabilization of the bullpen. All five of the most-used pitchers are pitching well right now, and I feel pretty comfortable with each of them in the game.

- There are reinforcements coming. Matt Harrison reportedly will replace Guillermo Moscoso on Friday when he’s eligible to come off the disabled list Friday and serve as another left-hander in Ron’s arsenal, with Dustin Nippert moving to more of a long-relief role. The less stress that has to rest on the 39-year-old arm of Darren Oliver, the better.

- Tanner Scheppers and Alexi Ogando will see time in Arlington this year, although it would be better for both if they spent a little bit more time in AAA. Scheppers is now reportedly being stretched out to become a starter, which is what he was in college and last year with the St. Paul Saints of the American Association. Ogando is a power righty arm that will come out of the bullpen. Can never have enough of those guys.

But what will really save the bullpen? More innings from the starters. Right now the starters are slumping a little bit, but it happens over the course of a long season. Hitters slump sometimes. Pitchers slump sometimes. The key is not having both slump at the same time.

Harrison pic: http://www.daylife.com/photo/01krbzy3Qwd38