Jacob Latz honor should seal All-Star future while 2 other Rangers hopefuls likely outside looking in

Remember when Jacob Latz laid an egg and posted an 8.04 ERA while battling Kumar Rocker for the Texas Rangers' fifth starter job? Even though it was just a few short months ago, that competition feels like a distant memory. Latz is a completely different pitcher today than he was then. He's morphed into one of the most unique relief weapons in the game, and his stellar June has him getting the recognition he deserves, as he takes home AL Reliever of the Month honors.

The reality of the situation is that the Texas Rangers' bullpen construction is relatively uneven. Latz, Jakob Junis, Tyler Alexander, and Peyton Gray have been solid contributors, but things start to deteriorate from there. Rather than have designated setup men to handle the seventh and eighth innings, Texas has needed to utilize Junis, Alexander, and Gray at various points in games to put out fires. They've been able to get away with that in large part due to Latz's exceptional ability to set up for himself with a mind-boggling number of two-inning saves and elongated appearances.

The 30-year-old lefty ranks sixth among AL relievers in ERA with a 1.89 mark, third with 18 saves and third in fWAR with a mark of 1.4. The Reliever of the Month award is the icing on the cake that should have him as a surefire All-Star once rosters are announced tonight at 6:30 PM Central. Unfortunately, it looks like he'll be the lone Rangers' representative as the bids of Josh Jung and Ezequiel Duran likely fall short.

It looks like Josh Jung and Ezequiel Duran will be staying home with the Rangers as Jacob Latz enjoys the Midsummer Classic

The first round of fan voting was not kind to Josh Jung and Ezequiel Duran as the popularity -contest nature of the process became clear, and Toronto Blue Jays fans stuffed the ballots in favor of their players, whether deserving or not.

Duran, listed as a second baseman for these purposes, has compiled 2.0 fWAR to date, the second most among AL second basemen, but the starting spot likely goes to Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement, despite the latter recording just 1.1 fWAR.

For Jung, the battle has been even tougher. Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero has been the leading vote-getter at the hot corner, and Miguel Vargas of the Chicago White Sox and Kazuma Okamoto, once again of the Blue Jays, have also been ahead of him for most of the process.

The roster predictions often include guys like Cole Young of the Seattle Mariners as the second base reserve and either Vargas or Okamoto in front of Jung for third base.

It's a shame because both have seemed All-Star worthy. Jung has been one of the most well-rounded hitters in the game with a .298/.363/.448 line, but with only nine homers, he fell behind the more powerful options. As for Duran, his versatility and defensive excellence were hard for the voters to grasp (there should be a utility option for All-Stars!).

Barring the pair making it as injury replacements, it appears that Latz will be traveling alone to the festivities in Philadelphia next weekend.

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