Rangers walk-off win can't hide the bullpen's fatal flaw that must be addressed

We enjoyed a thrilling finish on Saturday as the Texas Rangers rallied from being down three runs to take down the Kansas City Royals on May 30, and set the scene for what would become a sweep. Somewhat hidden in the mix was a stellar start from Kumar Rocker against yet another inferior opponent, as the bullpen took a 3-0 lead and turned it into a 6-3 deficit.

And that's where our conversation needs to begin. The Rangers' bullpen has been mostly good for the majority of the year. Texas has eschewed conventional wisdom with its bullpen construction, going with a pitch-to-contact approach over strikeout stuff. While intriguing, there are also some shortcomings that can rear their ugly heads.

We saw it on Saturday when Tyler Alexander took the mound in the top of the seventh and started what would be a death-by-one-thousand-papercuts scenario. The lefty setup man gave up a leadoff double to Isaac Collins, and while he did strike out the following batter, he also allowed two more singles to plate a run.

Jakob Junis, whose versatility has made him a unique weapon in high-leverage situations, relieved the struggling Alexander with just one out and men on first and second. He gave up three straight hits, two singles and a double, before recording two strikeouts to end the inning down 4-3.

Next up was Chris Martin, who gave up the only big blow of the day, a two-run homer to Carter Jensen. That would mercifully be the end of Kansas City's scoring. Fortunately, going down 6-3 and unraveling in this fashion didn't cost the Rangers, but it made something clear.

While the 'pen did tally five strikeouts in three innings of work, the relievers were unable to get strikeouts when they needed to. That led to mistakes getting hit hard, weakly struck balls finding holes, and overall showed the pitfalls of not being able to consistently get non-contact outs.

The lack of strikeout stuff in the Rangers' bullpen must be addressed if they want to make a run in the AL West

Zooming out, Texas relievers have a 3.41, which ranks eighth in baseball. However, their collective strikeout rate of 19.4% ranks 28th. That's a big reason why the unit's xFIP (4.46) and SIERA (4.10) both rank 22nd in the majors. These two metrics focus only on what is in a pitcher's control, with SIERA adding some batted ball context, and serve as the two best indicators of future performance that we have.

As the Rangers try to grab a foothold in the muddled AL West, having a bullpen that is turning in a top-third performance drop off to the point that it becomes a bottom-third unit could be back-breaking.

Therefore, adding some strikeout stuff to the mix must be a top priority. Not only is the swing-and-miss the best way to suppress runs, but by adding a power arm or two that can rack up the K's, the Rangers will have a different look to throw the opposition off balance, perhaps enhancing the performance of the soft-tossing control artists further.

The division is up for grabs, so it would behoove the Rangers to get out in front of this and scour high and low for some power arms. The trade deadline can help, but in the meantime, seeing what they can do before this becomes a clear, glaring need can set the club up well in its quest to return to the postseason.

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