MLB-Leading Texas Rangers Bullpen Managed Skillfully by Bruce Bochy

Even with the new pitching rules, Bruce Bochy is still managing the Texas Rangers bullpen at a high level.

One of Bruce Bochy’s greatest strengths as a manager has always been handling the bullpen.

Bochy always used a combination of statistics and gut feel to massage a bullpen through the trials and tribulations of a marathon 162-game regular season and playoffs.

After being away for three years for returning to manage the Texas Rangers, Major League Baseball changed. Even bullpens have changed. There are specialists who will throw one pitch and then not appear in a game for two to three days. The three-batter rule exists.

Toss in the pitch clock now and so much is different.

But Bochy hardly seems fazed. The 67-year-old is not just surviving.

He’s thriving.

After Wednesday’s 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles, Rangers relievers have a MLB-leading 0.73 ERA – two earned runs in 24 2/3 innings.

The bullpen is one of the main reasons the Rangers are off to a 4-2 start.

“They’ve done a terrific job,” Bochy said. “I mean, all of them are stepping up and doing a really nice job. It’s very, very encouraging, in the early going here with what’s going on with the bullpen."

How about the three-hitter minimum?

“It’s different to be honest,” Bochy said. “But when you have guys that you are uncomfortable with throwing out there for three hitters, but you try to find the right pockets, too.

“Sometimes you’re not able to do that, but you’re definitely looking at things differently thinking that way instead of batter to batter. It’s taken away a little bit of strategy, because once you’ve got a man in there, you’re done for three batters. But it’s not too much of an adjustment.”

It’s an interchangeable bullpen with guys able to handle different roles and different situations. For instance, Will Smith, José Leclerc and Ian Kennedy could be called upon from the sixth inning on.

Aside from roles, there’s a gut feel depending on how relievers rebound from a taxing week. That’s where Bochy shines.

While the rules don’t look the same, Bochy knows how to run a bullpen. That much has been proven in the early part of this season.

The Rangers open a three-game series at the Chicago Cubs starting Friday. Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 5.40 ERA) is scheduled to start for Texas opposite Justin Steele (0-0, 0.00) at Wrigley Field.

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