After Dreadful Start, Rangers' Bullpen Has Drastically Improved

Through the first 12 games of the season, the Texas Rangers had the worst bullpen ERA in baseball. Now, over a 7-5 run, it's become a strength of the team.

The Texas Rangers have been playing much better baseball since their dreadful 2-9 start. In fact, the team has gone 7-5 since. The starting rotation has been a key reason for the turnaround. But the performance by the bullpen cannot go unnoticed.

Since April 22, the day after the Rangers began to turn the tide with an 8-6 comeback victory over the Seattle Mariners, the bullpen has a collective 2.14 ERA, which is fourth in Major League Baseball during that stretch. They're also striking out more than 10 batters per nine innings and have a BABIP of .202, the lowest in baseball.

Compare these numbers to the first 12 games of the season, where the bullpen had a Major League-worst 5.04 ERA, a .277 BABIP and was striking out a batter less per nine innings.

Brock Burke and Matt Moore are big reasons why the bullpen is having vastly improved success as of late. Burke wowed manager Chris Woodward and the coaching staff in spring training with an uptick in fastball velocity coupled with elite extension to the plate, and Burke proved the skipper right by saying that fastball would play once they got into big league ballparks. Burke leads the bullpen with 14 innings, and has a 1.93 ERA and 1.14 WHIP over eight appearances.

Matt Moore might be the surprise of the entire group. The journeyman came into camp on a minor-league contract and only found a spot on the big league team when Dennis Santana went on the COVID-19 Injured List. Moore performed well right away, leading the Rangers to designate Greg Holland for assignment to make room for Moore on the 40-man roster.

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Apr 25, 2022; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Matt Moore (45) throws a pitch in the seventh inning against the Houston Astros at Globe Life Field.

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Apr 10, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Texas Rangers pitcher Brock Burke (46) pitches to the Toronto Blue Jays during the fourth inning at Rogers Centre.

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Apr 30, 2022; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Dennis Santana (19) pitches against the Atlanta Braves during the eighth inning at Globe Life Field.

Along with Burke, Moore has become one of Woodward's go-to long relievers, which has been a key role early on as starting pitchers were finishing their build up to a full workload. In 10 1/3 innings of work, Moore has a 0.87 ERA and 1.26 WHIP, with nine walks being the only thing to nitpick.

After a few years of struggling, a slight modification to the curveball grip presented by co-pitching coach Brendan Sagara might be what has helped Moore's transformation back to success.

“It's the same pitch I've always thrown. We just moved my thumb a little bit to on top of the seam," Moore explained on April 26. "(The grip) doesn't look like much of a difference when it's in my hand. But when I throw it, it really acts different. It acts like a true curveball. It actually grabs; it'll bite. The one before would have more of a tumbling. It just wasn't nearly as tricky for the hitter to pick up."

That curveball has allowed his other pitches to play better, specifically his fastball. Opposing hitters are only batting .077 against Moore's four-seamer this season, compared to a .305 average last year as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Since his return from the COVID-19 IL, Santana has become Woodward's favorite janitor, mopping up the messes to get out of tough jams. With two on and two out in the eighth inning of Saturday's win over the Atlanta Braves, Santana preserved Dane Dunning's sensational start by getting Ronald Acuña Jr. to ground out to end the threat. Santana did it again in Tuesday's win over the Phillies as he came in with one on and one out in the sixth and got Jean Segura to ground into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.

As the starting rotation has the handcuffs taken off and consistently pitches deeper into games, there will be less pressure on the bullpen. With the bullpen beginning to shake itself out, Chris Woodward is having a better time coming up with a formula to protect leads late or keep the team in games.

And there are reinforcements on the way. In a little more than a month, José Leclerc and Jonathan Hernández will be able to return from Tommy John surgery.