How Will Rangers' Relief Pitching Improve Following Their Recent Roster Moves?

The Texas Rangers have had a pretty back and forth stretch of baseball lately, but getting one of their key bullpen arms back should help their case.

Apr 28, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob Webb (71) throws to the plate against the Athletics during the sixth inning at Globe Life Field. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers have had a really interesting stretch of baseball over the course of both the season and their last few weeks. Ultimately, they sit at 63-65, in third place among the American League West teams. They have found themselves within reach of the Los Angeles Angels, with only 1.5 games separating the two now.

This is certainly not what the Rangers expected from their 2025 campaign after getting many of their crucial pieces back late last year and over the course of the offseason. Unfortunately, they have a lot of work to do to make a run at a Postseason spot, as they are currently five games out of the last AL Wild Card spot.

Between them and a chance at Postseason baseball are the Cleveland Guardians, Kansas City Royals, and the in-division Seattle Mariners. Essentially, they need to win a substantial amount of games and take a spot back from the Mariners, or win and hope one of the other teams in contention for a Wild Card spot falls apart.

In positive news, the Rangers will be getting back one of their key pieces in the bullpen, as Jacob Webb returns from the 15-day injured list, and Caleb Boushley is optioned back to Triple-A.

Rangers transactions for Thursday:

-RHP Jacob Webb activated from 15-day Injured List.
-RHP Caleb Boushley optioned to Round Rock (AAA).

— Texas Rangers PR (@TXRangersPR) August 21, 2025

What Does Getting Webb Back Mean for the Rangers' Bullpen?

David Frerker-Imagn Images

From a statistical standpoint, Webb is a significantly more reliable option out of the bullpen than Boushley, and he has proven it over a much larger sample size in 2025. In 42 appearances, the veteran has a 3.75 ERA, 4-3 record, 1.125 WHIP, 39 strikeouts, 14 walks, eight home runs allowed and one save.

As for Boushley, in 21 appearances, he has produced a 5.22 ERA, 36 strikeouts, 13 walks, five home runs allowed, one save and a 1.412 WHIP.

While the two are generally pretty similar in some metrics, it is clear that Webb is more reliable from a runs allowed perspective. His strikeout stuff is not as potent comparatively, but he also is able to induce ground and fly outs at a high rate, which is what separates him in both ERA and WHIP.

Adding Webb back to the bullpen should give it some more life and reliability over time, as he is one of the best options they have in their relief arms. With how desperate Texas is to close out games and snag some wins in the next few weeks, Webb should see a pretty large sample size of reps soon.