Rangers are watching Jacob Latz hit a wall at the worst possible time and it's all their fault

For much of the season, the Texas Rangers have enjoyed one of the most unique weapons in all of baseball. Jacob Latz was the club's only All-Star selection, but he wasn't just a token inclusion. The former fifth-starter candidate has become one of the game's best relief aces and the Rangers have gone to him early and often.

Latz has reached the 30-save plateau this season, which is quite the accomplishment for a hurler who seemed to have no clear place on the roster back in spring training. He's also done it in unusual fashion, as a league-leading 13 of his 30 saves have been of the multi-inning variety. In an era of highly-specialized bullpens, asking your closer to get more than three outs has become a rarity.

As a result, the left-hander has appeared in even more pressure-packed situations than your average closer. It's starting to take its toll.

Last night against the New York Mets, Skip Schumaker decided he was going to take no chances. After a 4 1/3 inning start from Cody Bradford, Schumaker leaned hard on the bullpen. Tyler Alexander gave him 1 2/3 innings to preserve the 2-2 tie. Then, in the top of the seventh, Alexander gave way to Chase Silseth, and that's where things got interesting.

After getting into a first-and-second, one-out jam, Silseth was pulled in favor of Latz. The 30-year-old would work out of the jam successfully and return for the eighth. After retiring the first two batters, old friend Marcus Semien stepped into the box and launched a go-ahead homer to left. That would be all New York needed, but they still tacked on four insurance runs when Trevor Williams surrendered a grand slam to Brett Baty. With that, the 7-2 defeat was sealed.

Jacob Latz's superpower is now the reason why the Rangers see him running out of gas at the worst time

As soon as Schumaker and the Rangers learned what they had in Latz, they leaned into using him to their advantage. Essentially, he's worked as his own setup man for most of the season.

However, we're starting to see the downside of that "strategy." Latz has a 4.91 ERA over 11 September innings, which is a far cry from the 1.65 mark he recorded through August 31. He's allowed three homers in September, which is the same amount as he allowed from Opening Day through the end of August.

These dingers have come at inopportune times. Latz gave up a three-run shot to Boston Red Sox's shortstop Trevor Story on September 17, ruining the Rangers' chance to complete the sweep. Two days prior, he was called upon by Schumaker for a five-out save. It's not hard to see the connection.

This is mostly Texas's fault. The inconsistency the team has received from the starting rotation, especially in starts from MacKenzie Gore, Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter, and Cody Bradford has been a major problem. That issue has been compounded by the deficiencies of the middle relief corps.

Add in the fact that the star hitters haven't come together at all, and you have a situation where Schumaker (rightfully) doesn't feel as if his lineup has the firepower to erase a late deficit, and the urge to overuse Latz is understandable.

Now, though, the star closer is gassed, and it shouldn't be surprising. The blame here doesn't solely rest on Latz for falling off, nor on Schumaker for the decisions that he's made. Instead, the biggest culprit has been Chris Young, who cut corners in the bullpen and pushed all his chips in for Gore. The result has been an uneven roster, and if the Rangers wind up missing the playoffs, this will be the reason why.

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