Dane Dunning Brings Relief to Texas Rangers Bullpen

No Texas Rangers reliever has logged more work without giving up a run than Dane Dunning after six games.

Dane Dunning knew going into Spring Training that he was going to have to change jobs to keep his spot with the Texas Rangers.

Who knew he would be so good at it this quickly?

To start this season, Dunning has made the transition from starter to long reliever look relatively seamless, even though it isn’t.

But as he readied for Tuesday’s appearance against the Baltimore Orioles, he discovered that warming up wasn’t taking nearly as long as it used to.

“The last two outings, getting warmed up has been pretty quick,” Dunning said. “I mean, usually it takes me 30 pitches to get warmed up, and I felt like these last two times it’s been six pitches and I feel really good.”

The results are easy to see. Dunning has appeared in two games this season — three innings against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday and four against the Orioles.

He’s thrown seven innings without giving up a run, something no other reliever in Major League Baseball has done entering Friday’s game at the Chicago Cubs. He’s become a big part of what is, at the moment, the best bullpen in baseball.

Six different Rangers haven’t given up a run and the staff ERA of 0.73 is the lowest of any bullpen in baseball.

Dunning has been right in the middle of it, and his manager Bruce Bochy, has quickly discovered his value.

“The bullpen has been really good,” Bochy said. “They’ve been able to keep things in order. That effort from Jon Gray (on Sunday) allowed to use the bullpen the way we wanted. (Tuesday) our long guys did a great job. The whole bullpen has done a great job of picking each other up. I’m really happy about the bullpen.”

Dunning’s appearance on Tuesday was in a 7-2 loss. The game was already out of hand when he entered in the top of the third for starter Andrew Heaney, who gave up all seven runs. Dunning slammed the door shut with four shutout innings of relief while throwing 65 pitches, nearly as many as Heaney’s 69.

Dunning and the Rangers knew that he wouldn’t be a starter this season without an injury, thanks to the acquisitions of Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Heaney and Jake Odorizzi. All four are veteran starters.

While deGrom, Eovaldi and Heaney have taken turns in the rotation, Odorizzi is on the 60-day injured list. But he was anticipated to have a role in the bullpen. Dunning may have inherited his spot.

Still, during Spring Training, the Rangers worked Dunning as a starter in an effort to build up his pitch count so he could handle a role like this. Bochy said at times in March that a reliever like Dunning could flip into a starter role if someone in the rotation needed a break. His pitch count on Tuesday is evidence that Dunning is stretched out for that role, if needed.

But moving to the bullpen required some mental preparation. Dunning hadn’t done that in a while. In fact, those were his first two relief appearances in the big leagues. Starters have a regimented schedule. Relievers do not. He’s leaned on veterans that have worked in that role to help him make the adjustment.

“(Josh) Sborz has actually helped me out quite a lot, Will Smith, Ian (Kennedy), just a bunch of guys that have been doing it for a while and I’m just picking their brains on what I need to do to stay ready and be in the moment, and they've really helped me out,” Dunning said.

Dunning is also healthy, too. At the end of last season he had hip surgery. He said that there are no residual effects from that surgery and that his pitching fundamentals are better this season.

“It feels great. No problems,” Dunning said. “I feel like there’s definitely more in there. So right now I’m just trying to pound the zone and get that figured out first.”

It’s safe to say Dunning and the rest of the bullpen is figuring it out fast, as the group has a streak of 24 1/3 innings of scoreless relief this season.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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