Who Will Be the Rangers' Closer?
The Texas Rangers will break camp in eight days, then head back to Arlington for two dress rehearsals for the regular season.
Usually among those selected for the Opening Day roster is a traditional closer — someone set aside to get the final three outs of a ballgame with a three-run lead or less.
This year, at least to start, manager Chris Woodward is remaining steadfast in not naming a closer.
The incumbent choice would be José Leclerc. He was one of the more dominant relievers in all of baseball in 2018. He earned the closer's role for 2019, but did not repeat the same success. His 2020 season was derailed just shortly after it began with a muscle tear in his shoulder.
Woodward hasn't been shy about just handing anyone a spot on the team, Leclerc included.
"I need to see more from José," Woodward said. "He feels good. It's encouraging. This guy missed the whole year last year. But I need to see a little bit more. He's going to have at least two or three more times out where he can step on it and ramp up to what he typically is.
"We might use him in that role. We'd like to use him in leverage innings, if that makes more sense. I don't think it's fair to name anybody the closer right now. ... I think there's a handful of guys that, once we establish our roster, we can go to in that spot."
So, who are the candidates to take the ball in the ninth inning — the highest leverage inning?
"Ian [Kennedy] and José come to mind," Woodward said. "Matt Bush, if he makes our roster, comes to mind. He's got that mentality. There's a few guys. Definitely those three guys stand out."
Woodward also explained that Jonathan Hernández would be an ideal candidate for that role, but he could miss at least the first several weeks of the season with a low-grade UCL strain.
Kennedy and Bush are both non-roster invitees, and neither player has been announced as making the team just yet, which would require at least one roster move (Hernández to the 60-day Injured List would free up a spot). Although, with Woodward listing them as potential closer candidates, that might tell you where the team is leaning right now.
In 2019, Kennedy recorded 30 saves for the Kansas City Royals in his first transition to the bullpen after a successful run as a starter. Most Texas fans will probably remember Bush from the last Rangers team to win a division in 2016, where he played an important role in the back end of the bullpen.
That leads to how Woodward plans to handle the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings this year. As Woodward has admitted to embracing some new age of thinking when constructing a lineup, he plans to really stray from tradition regarding the closer's spot. It will be more about matchups and strategy.
"The 'closer' may pitch the eighth inning because that's the most difficult inning [in that particular game]," Woodward said. "I don't understand why in the past we just pitched him in the ninth because we may not get to the ninth. If I put a guy in that's a bad matchup in the eighth and we lose the lead, the closer never pitches.
"The ninth inning is always the hardest three outs. There's no question, whether it's the bottom half of the lineup or not, it's still the hardest three outs. I would like to be somewhat strategic about it and how we use our guys, to maximize them against the opposing lineup."
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Chris Halicke covers the Texas Rangers for InsideTheRangers.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHalicke.
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