Texas Rangers Manager Expects Confident Pair of Relievers at Spring Training
The Texas Rangers aren’t just interested in upgrading their bullpen through free agency and trades. They also want to ensure that two of their biggest returning pieces get better next season.
José Leclerc and Josh Sborz certainly had highs and lows in 2023, but they were two of the most important pieces of the Rangers’ bullpen during the postseason. It was Sborz who recorded the final out of the World Series. It was Leclerc who pitched in nearly every game before the World Series.
There’s hope, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy says, that the momentum will carry them into next season.
“(I’m) really, really confident,” Bochy said. “That saved us with those two finding their game at the right time.”
After a shaky regular season, Jose Leclerc was a postseason hero for the Texas Rangers out of the bullpen.
Still, the Rangers are making moves to restock the bullpen. They agreed to a one-year deal with Atlanta reliever Kirby Yates and selected New York Yankees prospect Carson Coleman in the Rule 5 Draft.
Leclerc started the season as the Rangers’ closer but quickly lost the job. He finished 0-2 with a 2.68 ERA and just four saves.
Bochy admitted that Leclerc wasn’t healthy to start the season, and it affected his velocity, his slider, and his changeup. He spent June 24-July 6 on the injured list with a right ankle sprain.
The Rangers had him work through control, velocity, and his health issues as a set-up man for both Will Smith and Aroldis Chapman. At first, Bochy worked him in low-leverage situations. By September, Leclerc was healthy and effective enough to work in tighter situations.
That was reflected in his September, where he allowed just three runs in 13 appearances and none in his final eight. He saved two games in that stretch, too.
All of that carried over into the postseason. He made one bad pitch to Houston’s Jose Altuve, who hit a three-run home run late in Game 5 of the ALCS. Otherwise, Leclerc was terrific. He made 13 appearances, had four saves — including Game 3 of the World Series — and struck out 14.
On the strength of his finish, the Rangers picked up Leclerc’s contract option for 2024.
“He got healthy, and (he) was throwing the ball the way he normally throws the ball,” Bochy said.
As for Sborz, he said after he gave up six runs (five earned) in 2/3 innings against Houston on Sept. 4, he admitted he texted his wife and said, “I think that was my last game.”
Instead, he went on the injured list the next day with a hamstring pull and returned on Sept. 27.
While on the injured list, the Rangers used their Trackman system during his bullpen sessions to fine-tune his delivery and pitch shape. Pitching coach Mike Maddux said the adjustments were small, but they came up huge in the World Series.
Sborz pitched in 10 postseason games with five holds and earned the save in the Game 5 World Series clincher against Arizona. He had a 0.75 ERA and gave up four hits and four walks while striking out 13.
“Sborzy got derailed a couple of times, and he bounced back,” Bochy said. “Then, of course, what he did in the postseason was like the run he had during the season (in the summer) and was locked in with his command of all his pitches.”
Leclerc is in the final year of his contract with the Rangers. Sborz is entering salary arbitration for the first time. Bochy expects two confident relievers to arrive in Surprise, Ariz., in February for Spring Training.
“I fully expect them to come into Spring Training and be those guys that we had and have that much more confidence,” Bochy said. “They did it. They did it during the season, but now to do it and throw like that during the postseason, that even raises their confidence that much more.”
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