Texas Rangers: 4 pitchers who would improve the bullpen

The Texas Rangers bullpen has been a mess for most of this season. Blown saves, walks, and poor outings among nearly everyone in that bullpen. For most of May, fans have been begging the front office to trade for a bullpen arm to lock things down in the middle to late innings. It has been hard to watch such a good team lose so many games late. The truth is that trades may not materialize until after the All-Star break which is still over six weeks away. The Rangers' answer to their bullpen issues will have to come from within. Several players in the minor leagues currently have the stuff and mentality to pitch in the bullpen. I want to present four players that I believe should be given an opportunity to pitch in the pen before the trade deadline season.

Texas Rangers Minor Leaguer Marc Church

Marc Church got into plenty of action this spring in "A" games and not just on the backfields. He was surprisingly one of the last cuts. The coaching staff utilized him in the late innings in spring. Bochy and his staff know of Church and how effective he can be. He was sent to Frisco to start the season. He had a dominant April, but has struggled some in May. If you look into his numbers he is the exact guy Texas could use right now. Church has made eight appearances in the eighth and ninth innings this season. In those innings, he has only allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings pitched and has 12 strikeouts to three walks.

He has made four appearances in late and close game situations. In those 6 2/3 innings he has 14 strikeouts to one walk and is allowing hitters a .130 batting average. He is not afraid of the moment and actually pitches better in those situations.

This is video of him making an appearance back on May 19th. He was facing Jordan Lawler one of the top prospects in all of baseball.

On Tuesday it was announced that he was being promoted to Triple-A Round Rock. I will be watching his appearances over the next couple of weeks. The Rangers are home for much of June. If he performs well for Round Rock I would not be surprised to see him get a shot in the bullpen at some point in June or July.

Texas Rangers Minor Leaguer Chase Lee

Chase Lee was drafted in the sixth round in 2021 to eventually fill a role in the bullpen. He was a bullpen pitcher at Alabama and has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen in the minor leagues. The Rangers have pushed him very aggressively in his two years in the system.

The normal procedure for pitchers the Rangers draft is once they sign they go out to the Arizona complex. They normally will then go through workouts and then instructional league in September. That was not the case for Lee. He did go out to Arizona, but it was a very short stay. He was sent out to Double-A Frisco and pitched the rest of the season for the Roughriders. He then began 2022 back in Frisco, but was promoted to Round Rock in June 2022.

He has pitched well for Round Rock in his almost one full year since being promoted. He was just honored as pitcher of the week last week for what he did against El Paso. He made three appearances. They each were two-inning appearances. He did not allow any runs. struck out eight, and walked two. In his appearance on the 21st, Lee picked up his first save of the season.

Lee has been primarily used in the seventh through ninth innings. The inning he has been used the most is the eighth. He has a 1.29 ERA, with eight strikeouts to four walks. He has only allowed one run in the eighth inning. The sidearmer would give the Rangers a right-handed pitcher with a funky motion that they have not seen since Darren O' Day was pitching for the Rangers in the 2000's. It would give batters a different look and Bochy can match Lee up with right-handed hitters. Right-handers have a .203 average against Lee with 25 strikeouts to six walks.

Lee would be someone who can come up and would have a defined role. He would pitch in the middle innings against right-handed hitters. Bochy would deploy him in situations he would be able to excel in. The Rangers' bullpen is missing a specialist and Lee would be able to fill that role.

Texas Rangers Minor Leaguer Antoine Kelly

If the Rangers chose Kelly it would pay off last Summer's Matt Bush trade. Kelly was the prize of the trade. He was a former Milwaukee Brewers top prospect who had control issues. He was being used as a starter, but was projected to be moved to the bullpen. That move to the bullpen occurred fully this season.

Kelly was returned to Frisco to start this season and has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen. The control issues are still there for the left-hander, but he is really excelling in the bullpen role. Over the last 9 1/3 innings Kelly has allowed only one run. He has 13 strikeouts to seven walks. He has picked up two saves. That includes Tuesday night when he was brought into the ninth inning of a 2-1 game. He faced five batters, gave up one hit, one walk, and struck out three. He closed the game out.

Kelly over the past month has been pitching primarily as the closer for Frisco. In the ninth innings this season he has a 0.00 ERA with 10 strikeouts to just two walks. He has been in those high pressure situations for Frisco. The stuff is there for Kelly, it just sometimes will lead to walks. He is effective against both lefties and righties and can be used in any situation. He has a 1.23 ERA for the month of May. He seems to be pitching better as the season goes along. He is certainly a candidate for promotion to Round Rock soon and then maybe to Texas later.

So two pitchers in Triple-A and two pitchers in Double-A. They both have their strengths and weaknesses. Their strengths though align with the weaknesses that the Rangers bullpen currently has. Chris Young and Bruce Bochy would do well to think outside of the box in this situation and start to give opportunities to players who have toiled on the farm for the last few years. The pen they currently have is not working outside of Will Smith. Better to know what you have before you go about shopping for what you need.