Jose Leclerc Back to Being Rangers High-Leverage Option

Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy is happy with the way Jose Leclerc has turned his season around in the bullpen.

José Leclerc is now back to being a high-leverage option for the Texas Rangers.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy made that clear after Leclerc worked a spotless ninth inning in Friday's 2-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

“He’s actually been throwing the ball well,” Bochy said. “He had that one outing where he struggled against the (Los Angeles Angels). But his stuff is really improved, his command has really improved. The fastball, the slider, the change. I think he’s in a good place and that’s why we put him in there in the ninth inning.”

Leclerc threw seven pitches and struck out one hitter in a perfect inning of relief.

In Leclerc’s past seven games, he has one hold, a 3.24 ERA in 8 1/3 innings, four walks, and nine strikeouts. That hasn’t lowered his season ERA by much (3.86 to 3.63) but it represents a reversal from his late April and early May outings that forced the Rangers to take him out of the closer role and high-leverage situations.

The downturn started April 24 in Cincinnati when he walked three batters in 1/3 inning. Three days later against the New York Yankees he gave up a run on a hit in one inning in the only game the Rangers lost in that series.

He gave up two more earned runs on a hit and two walks in 1/3 inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 3, representing the low point of the season for Leclerc. He and the Rangers went back to basics on his pitch location and he stayed out of big-game situations.

After he gave up two runs in an inning to the Colorado Rockies on May 21, things started to come around. He had allowed two hits in 2 1/3 innings over three scoreless outings to end the month.

After allowing a hit in two innings against the Seattle Mariners on June 3, he held the Tampa Bay Rays to one hit over 2 2/3 innings on June 11, the longest scoreless outing of his career.

What happened against the Angels on Tuesday? He gave up a two-run home run to Zach Neto in the ninth inning, along with an RBI single to Brandon Drury. It’s the only blemish in this seven-game stretch and came in a series where the Rangers lost three out of four.

But Leclerc has shown improvement, which is a positive sign that at least part of the bullpen is coming around. Joe Barlow and Grant Anderson threw perfect innings of relief in Friday's loss.

“It’s getting much better down there,” Bochy said. “It’s much improved and overall these guys are building confidence.”

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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