Rangers mind-boggling stat proves how critical middle innings are

When you see this unbelievable stat, it's hard to fathom how the Texas Rangers aren't several games over .500 and cruising into the postseason. The Rangers are the best team in the league when they take a lead into the eighth inning, with an ungodly 61-1 record.

Essentially, if you get the ball to Jacob Latz and any combination of Jakob Junis, Tyler Alexander, and Robert Garcia recently, you can chalk up a "W". That is how dominant Latz and the very back end of the Rangers bullpen have been in 2026.

The problem usually comes in the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings, and in transferring the lead to the closer. From the All-Star Break through the end of August, Texas relievers allowed the most runs in these middle innings than any other team in baseball. A big issue was the exorbitant number of rookies and subpar arms the club had to rely on. Now, though, with some injuries returns the deck has been shuffled a bit.

You'll notice that of the three teams on the graphic above, the Rangers have 61 wins with the lead after the 7th inning, while playoff teams like the Rays and Red Sox have 75 and 69, respectively. So, which middle relievers need to be better as the season has just a week and a half to go?

The Rangers' closer Jacob Latz is nails, but the middle relievers need to be better if they want to make a playoff surge

We've seen it time and time again this season. The Rangers will get a quality start from the likes of Jacob deGrom, Cal Quantrill, or Nathan Eovaldi, only to see the middle relievers come in and blow the lead. When the Rangers trail in the late innings, they are not good. They have very few comeback wins this year.

So solid middle relief matters more this year than in years past. We're talking about guys like Chase Silseth, Alexander, Garcia, and even Evo going out and playing their best to protect leads and get to Latz and company to slam the door shut.

In Tuesday's 4-2 series-opening win over the Red Sox, the middle relievers were fantastic and showed the blueprint that Skip Schumaker would like to follow when pulling his starters out with a lead after the 5th or 6th inning.

He wants to bring in Silseth as his first reliever and then have the option to go to either Jakob Junis and Eovaldi (who looks like a middle reliever right now) against righties or Garcia and Alexander against lefties in the 7th and into the eighth.

Silseth has been getting better in August since coming over from LA at the deadline and getting his bearings. Except for one disastrous outing against the D-Backs in which he allowed three earned runs in 0.2 innings, he has allowed one earned run over his last five outings spanning 3.2 innings pitched.

Alexander has been solid, allowing just three earned runs over his last 10.2 innings. Junis has been roughed up a little lately, but Schumaker still trusts him in high-leverage situations.

Ideally, you don't want Latz racking up too many 4-or 5-out saves, but it is clear that if these middle relievers can get the ball to Latz in the 8th, Schumaker is willing to go with his dominant closer for more than a one-inning save. Usually with at least a day's rest, however.

It's going to be a patchwork effort for sure, but if these middle relievers can hold their own and get the ball to the lone Rangers' All-Star closer, it is a recipe for success, and the 61-1 mark proves it.

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