PHOENIX – The last 10 days had been so exhilarating for the Rangers. But the temporary euphoric state wore off Tuesday when a hard reality slapped them: Their ensemble bullpen may be taxed.
On Tuesday, lefty reliever Hoby Milner, perhaps the Rangers’ trustiest reliever in the first half of the season, allowed Ketel Marte a tie-breaking three-run homer in the seventh inning of Arizona’s 5-3 win that snapped the Rangers’ six-game winning streak.
The Rangers, however, did not lose ground in the playoff races. Then again, with both Houston and Seattle losing on Tuesday, they might not have lost ground, but they did lose an opportunity. With time dwindling on the season, they can’t afford to waste such opportunities. Oh, and speaking of wasted opportunities, the Rangers were 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position Tuesday, but that problem is so last month.
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“It’s what we talk about all the time, bouncing back,” manager Bruce Bochy said.
Look, over the last two weeks, they’ve bounced back well. Winning three, losing one, then winning six straight. But, the question that may have to be considered is how much more elasticity there is to a bullpen that gets by on location more than stuff.
When he entered the game, Milner, not a hard thrower, was already within two innings of his career high. He’s had 64 and a fraction innings each of the past three years.
He is not alone. Shawn Armstrong, the team’s most reliable reliever all season, is within five of his. Jacob Webb? Already set a career high. Jacob Latz? He’s already thrown 67 major league innings this season, 20 more than his previous high. And besides, he was unavailable, having been pressed into another start. He’d pitched five shutout innings as the starter and had started the sixth. Maybe Bochy was trying to manage his resources. Maybe he just had belief in Latz, who has pitched well in five emergency starts this year, including one previous six inning outing.
“We’re going to manage to win games,” Bochy said of his bullpen usage. “Hoby is up there a little bit, but he was one of the fresher guys. Our bullpen has been used a lot. But it’s September. There are a lot of bullpens that are going to get a lot of action. That’s just part of the game right now. But this is an important time of the year; you try to give guys rest when needed, but unless you think you are going to hurt somebody, you are trying to win games.”
Still, there are limitations in terms of health, availability and trust.
Chris Martin, Webb and Armstrong had all pitched in Monday’s win and the Rangers aren’t about to pitch Martin on back-to-back nights immediately after activating him from the IL.
The rest of the bullpen was saved for low-leverage situations: Struggling Danny Coulombe, struggling Phil Maton, mopup man Caleb Boushley, lefty Robert Garcia and promising, but inconsistent Luis Curvelo. Together, they had a 6.57 ERA in August. And, Bruce Bochyt said, the Rangers have stayed away from Coulombe for the last week due to some shoulder soreness.
No. 8 hitter Jorge Barrosa, who entered the game hitting .105, singled on a 1-2 79 mph sweeper at the bottom of the zone. Dallas’ Jordan Lawlar, who broke a season-long 0 for 31 stretch in his previous at-bat, followed with another single. And then Marte, the most dangerous hitter in the Arizona lineup, golfed a changeup below the zone into the seats in left center. The Rangers had no answers.
Call it opportunity lost.
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