Texas Rangers: Recapping Alex Claudio’s 2017 Season

Alex Claudio is coming what’s been quite a season. A few bumps here and there but nonetheless he had a good year. The 25-year-old relief pitcher is one of the unique talents on the Texas Rangers’ bullpen. Though the bullpen needs a lot of improvement, the Rangers are fortunate to have trustworthy talent.

Claudio has been in the majors since August 2014. Last season, the Texas Rangers got to see more from him than they did previous years.

Claudio appeared in 70 games, earning seven holds and eleven saves with just four blown saves with a record of 4-2. His eleven saves were this season’s team-high. His hard work is paying off and he’s continuing to learn and improve.

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However, despite the applauding performance, Claudio was never officially named as the team’s closer. Claudio’s opportunity to close games came when Matt Bush was reassigned back to a relief pitcher. It’s unknown why the Rangers never officially announced Claudio as the closer. But regardless, they saw a promising performance from Claudio.

One thing’s for sure that is the fact that manager Jeff Banister won’t name an official closer for the 2018 season anytime soon. It’s too early to make this decision at this time.

As we know, he doesn’t give jobs just like that and instead gives the opportunity to earn a job. That being said, our answer to the team’s closer will be given once Banister announces his Opening Day roster.

There’s no doubt, there’s going to be some serious competition in Spring Training. Especially in pitching duties. That’s no surprise to Claudio. As long as he arrives at Spring Training in good shape and well-concentrated, he’ll be all right.