3 straight wins have Rangers heating up — and nowhere is that more apparent than in the bullpen

PHILADELPHIA — Hold on a minute. What if the Rangers’ bullpen, which looked so inexperienced and, dare we say, overmatched for the first 10 days of the season actually is an asset?

It’s starting to look that way.

The Rangers won their third straight game Tuesday, kicking off an East Coast road swing with a 6-4 win over Philadelphia. What has been consistent throughout the modest three-game streak: A lockdown bullpen in which roles seem to be emerging.

It also doesn’t hurt that Zach Reks, the outfielder the Rangers chose to keep over Willie Calhoun, delivered his third hit in as many games with the Rangers. This was his biggest: A two-out, two-run pinch hit tiebreaking double in the sixth. Then, he alertly took third on the throw home and scored the final run of the inning on Marcus Semien’s infield single grounder.

“Guys have kind of come together and really embrace the challenge,” manager Chris Woodward said. “There was never any panic. I think it was something really good for us to kind of go through honestly. Nobody likes losing and we’ve still got a ways to go to get out of the hole we dug for ourselves. But everybody in that room has belief.”

Then he singled out the bullpen in particular. And nowhere is the change in mentality more visible than amongst the relievers.

On Tuesday, the bullpen backed up Jon Gray’s pitch-limited return from the IL with six innings, allowing only a bases-empty homer to J.P. Realmuto. It’s the only earned run the relievers have allowed over 11 1/3 innings of work in the last three games. And significantly, it’s one more run than they’ve allowed walks. The relievers have lowered their ERA from 5.68 to 3.79 over the last 13 games, dating back to the end of the Rangers’ series at Seattle.

Ironically enough, that’s where the fledgling bullpen got together, first to talk with each other, and then with coaches about conviction.

“I think our approach has changed,” said budding closer Joe Barlow. “We had a talk about being aggressive and pitching with conviction. We talked about belonging. [The coaching staff] told us again and again that we can attack guys instead of, for lack of a better word, being timid. I think the mentality changed among all of our guys.”

After Gray left due to pitch count, not any aches, pains or blisters, the bullpen went to work, further defining their roles. Consider:

— Brock Burke: The emerging multi-inning weapon pitched a season-high 2 1/3 innings following Gray. It was the sixth time in eight outings he’s pitched two or more innings. He worked around a fifth-inning double to Alec Bohm by getting Bryce Harper and Realmuto.

— Dennis Santana: He’s the guy the Rangers are turning to with men on base. On Tuesday, he faced just one hitter, Jean Segura and got an inning-ending double-play grounder in the sixth. Since returning from the COVID IL on April 24, he’s retired all eight batters he’s faced. He has inherited five runners this season and allowed none of them to score

— John King: While Brett Martin has struggled, King is becoming the Rangers go-to late-inning lefty. He’s living dangerously, but escaping. On Tuesday, he allowed the Nos. 8-9 hitters to reach to start the seventh, then retired Kyle Schwarber, Bohm and Harper in order. After coming up and in with the first two pitches, he got Harper to look at a sinker away for the final strike.

“We were just trying to stay away from going down and in with spin,” said catcher Jonah Heim.

— Barlow: He is laying claim to closer, which shouldn’t be a surprise since he finished 2021 in that role. But Woodward had been hesitant to proclaim Barlow as the guy in spring training. And due to the rough start, he didn’t get a save attempt until Saturday, when he retired three Atlanta hitters in order to finish off a win. On Tuesday, he was perfect again, finishing the game off by getting Schwarber to line out to center.

“Guys are starting to find the roles and you can see the bullpen really starting to throw the ball well,” Woodward said. “They are embracing the expectations. It comes down to execution in this game. Guys are just a little bit more comfortable out there. They are calming down after the first week.”

Because of it, what looked like a liability in the season’s first week is slowly moving into the asset category.

+++

Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.