It's time that the Rangers face an uncomfortable bullpen reality

Much has been made of how well the Texas Rangers' bullpen has performed so far this year. Upon further examination, however, you can see cracks starting to form in the foundation of the reliever corps, and it needs to be addressed if the team is serious about being contenders in 2026.

While the numbers look solid, it has become evident that the bullpen is relying too heavily on just a couple of arms, while the rest of the relievers have been average to below average.

The Rangers' bullpen is way too dependent on Jacob Latz and Jakob Junis at the end of games

A closer look at the advanced metrics shows that the Ranger bullpen is 12th in SIERA (Skill Interactive Earned-Run Average) at 4.03, 21st in xFIP ( Expected Fielding Independent Pitching) at 4.40, and 28th in K% at 19.9%. That all makes the relievers' collective 3.56, which is ninth in baseball, look like a mirage.

Outside of Jacob Latz and Jakob Junis, who have combined to be one of the most dominant late-inning combinations in baseball, the rest of the pen has underperformed. Peyton Gray has performed well as a 31-year-old rookie, but veterans like Tyler Alexander, Chris Martin, Jalen Beeks, Joe Ross, and Cole Winn have not performed to expectations.

Essentially, outside of Latz, Junis, and sometimes Gray, the bullpen has a foundation that may be built on sand instead of cement and could easily be exposed if the older guys who are expected to set the tone in the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings can't significantly improve.

For that reason, MLB insiders, such as Jim Bowden of The Athletic, have the bullpen as a key trade deadline need for Texas. Even certain guys like Gray, who didn't make his MLB debut until his age-31 season for a reason, feel as if they're on shaky ground.

New addition Robby Ahlstrom has provided a nice shot in the arm since being called up two weeks ago. He has given up just a single earned run in nine innings pitched. Again, however, Ahlstrom is a rookie with very little big-league experience, so he shouldn't be viewed as a solution until he proves it over a much larger sample.

If the Rangers' bullpen were a human pyramid, where they were on each other's backs, Latz and Junis would clearly be bearing the most weight on the bottom row in the middle. But if some of the other guys don't start buckling down, the pyramid could collapse in on itself.

That is the last thing the Rangers need as the offense looks to be stabilizing, and they have gotten good starts from Eovaldi and Rocker this past week. Of course, that would be the Rangers' luck, as when one thing starts to click, another goes off the rails, as it's been for the entire 2026 season.

If the Rangers are serious about competing, they'll need to go hard after another bullpen ace and perhaps another solid middle reliever at the trade deadline, but they'll have to hope the wheels don't fall off first.

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