Veteran Texas Rangers Relief Pitcher Is Team’s Biggest X-Factor This Season

A Texas Rangers veteran relief pitcher signed in free agency is the team's biggest X-factor heading into the season.

Sep 11, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Chris Martin (55) throws a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles in the seventh inning at Fenway Park. | David Butler II-Imagn Images

When taking a look at the Texas Rangers roster heading into the 2025 season, it is hard to find any glaring weaknesses.

After acquiring Jake Burger from the Miami Marlins and signing Joc Pederson in free agency, the team's lineup is as deep and talented as any in baseball.

Both will be handling first base and designated hitter, providing the team with much-needed power.

Where the biggest changes were made this winter was on the pitching staff, where seven prominent players from the 2024 squad became free agents.

Starting pitchers Nathan Eovaldi, Max Scherzer and Andrew Heaney hit the market along with relievers Kirby Yates, David Robertson, Jose Leclerc and Andrew Chafin.

Eovaldi is the only one of that bunch who returned to the Rangers, agreeing to a three-year, $75 million deal.

Everyone else moved on, but Robertson surprisingly remains available in free agency.

For the starting rotation, mostly in-house options are going to be relied upon. The team is hoping Jacob deGrom can stay healthy, which is an X-factor in itself. 

Jon Gray and Cody Bradford are both hitting the injured list already, which puts more pressure on Tyler Mahle to stay healthy with deGrom. Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter could both be looking at Opening Day rotation spots.

However, the biggest X-factor on the team lies in the bullpen.

Texas currently doesn’t have an establisher closer, someone who has previous experience working late in games. It is the only thing their offseason haul was truly missing despite putting together a revamped relief staff.

The player who looks ticketed for the closer’s job out of the gate is veteran Chris Martin, who signed a one-year deal with the team after spending the previous two seasons with the Boston Red Sox.

He has 14 saves in his career and has the stuff to succeed in high-leverage situations. However, health has been an issue for him in the past, and he is 38 years old.

“It seems for now like the job will fall to Martin, who is two years removed from a superb season marked by a 1.05 ERA. He'll be 39 on June 2, however, and he's coming off a year in which his average fastball dipped by 1 mph,” wrote Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report, while naming Martin the team’s biggest X-factor.

The dip in velocity is a concern to keep an eye on.

It is also fair to wonder why the Rangers would move on from veterans in their late 30s who they know well, Yates and Robertson, to bring in Martin.

The late-game situation is one worth watching throughout the year.

If Martin falters or hits the injured list again, the closing role could fall upon the shoulders of Robert Garcia, who was acquired from the Washington Nationals in exchange for Nathaniel Lowe.