This young Rangers reliever will make a leap and become the lynchpin of the 2027 bullpen

Due to a series of injuries to Texas Rangers relievers, including Chris Martin, Robert Garcia, and Jalen Beeks, the team was forced to dig into their minor league system early and often in 2026. The injuries continued throughout the year when key cogs like Jakob Junis went down, meaning that even more young hurlers were promoted, perhaps before they were major league ready.

Young farmhands and trade pieces like Robby Ahlstrom, Ben Peoples, Gavin Collyer, and Adam Macko were asked to contribute at the big leagues, and the results were mixed. There were flashes of the stuff that earned them the promotion, but their inexperience and youth showed more often.

All of these young pitchers will have the opportunity to have a bigger impact in 2027. Still, there is one reliever in particular who looks like he is poised to take the next step and be a big part of the team soon. Gavin Collyer probably has the most electric arm talent and best stuff of the group and should step up in 2027.

Gavin Collyer has all the tools to take a big step as a middle innings reliever in 2027

Collyer got a cup of coffee with the Rangers last season, pitching 25 innings over 24 appearances in middle relief. He showed the plus velocity he has at his disposal and managed to fan 23 hitters, but also struggled at times with his command, walking 19 batters.

He is not just a thrower who is trying to fire it past hitters; he has a nice arsenal of pitches that he can set up with a four-seam fastball that touches 98 mph on the radar gun and gets a hefty 34% whiff rate. He also possesses three other pitches that he is still developing, including a plus cutter that he throws 33% of the time and has a 23% whiff rate, and a mid-80s sweeper that he employs 23% of the time with a 29.1% whiff rate.

The pitch that can take him to the next level is the sinker that he just began to throw before the 2026 season, and will continue to hone. He only threw it 17.7% of the time this past season, and still doesn't have complete confidence in it in leverage situations. Once he gets to the point where he can mix that pitch in with his other three options, it will make him much more difficult to hit.

He also needs to improve his overall command. He isn't that far off, and with a few tweaks in his delivery, he should be able to be in and around the zone with more frequency. Pitching coach Jordan Tiegs will definitely be looking to work with Collyer as soon as the players get to Surprise next season to fine-tune his release point and delivery angle.

Collyer has the chassis of a Ferrari, but he needs to have a little work done under the hood to find the state-of-the-art performance level that everyone in the organization believes he can reach. They'll need him to take to the coaching and clean up the command because they won't have money to make big bullpen splashes, but his electric stuff could solve a lot of the unit's ills.

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