Building Bridges: Only Real Competition in Rangers Camp is for Middle of the Bullpen

SURPRISE, Ariz. – Rangers general manager Jon Daniels has in his office a dry-erase board with names of possible Opening Day roster combinations scribbled upon it. In the past, it’s often looked something like a physics equation, with question marks, crossed out names, alternative options and the like.

This year, he’s barely touched the thing. Barring injury, the roster is that close to being firm with more than three weeks to go before the season opener against Cleveland on April 6.

There is no question about the starting rotation It will be Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Matt Harrison, Scott Feldman and Brandon McCarthy. The Rangers will go into the season with Nelson Cruz hitting cleanup against left-handed pitching and Hank Blalock batting there against right-handers. Frank Francisco is the closer and that’s that.

In only one spot is there anything resembling chicken scratching. It is in the middle of the bullpen where the Rangers need to find four arms from a pool of at least eight candidates.

“It’s really going to be a big area of focus over the next three weeks,” Daniels said Saturday. “We need to assemble the best seven-man bullpen we can. We feel like we have options and we like those options.”

Beyond Francisco and setup men C.J. Wilson and Eddie Guardado, nothing is close to being guaranteed.

While the options are many, there are risks associated with all of them. Brendan Donnelly, Willie Eyre and Derrick Turnbow are coming off injuries. Josh Rupe, Dustin Nippert and Luis Mendoza are sinker-ball pitchers who walked far too many batters last year to be reliable. Doug Mathis, Thomas Diamond and Warner Madrigal are largely unproven.

The middle of the bullpen is especially important in Texas since the Rangers can’t rely on lots of innings from the starting rotation. It creates the need to have relievers who are versatile and durable. They would often handle the sixth and seventh innings and occasionally the eighth.

Last season, the middle of the bullpen struggled, partly because the starting rotation forced them to work longer and more often than would be prescribed. As a result, the Rangers lost 19 games in which they led at some point between the end of the fifth and the end of the seventh.

The workload especially took a toll on Rupe, who ended up leading the AL in relief innings pitched with 89.1. He had a 3.80 ERA on August 5. He took three days off after that outing, but was never the same pitcher. He had an 8.53 ERA over his last 25.1 innings, during which he walked 21 batters and hit two more. Manager Ron Washington’s all too vivid memories of those walks are what keep him from committing a spot to Rupe, even though he’s been perhaps the most effective pitcher in camp. He’s pitched three times and allowed just one hit and one walk.

“He just can’t walk the first batter,” Washington said. “He’s certainly got good stuff. He just needs to trust himself to use it.”

Said Rupe: “Sometimes, I just tried to pick at the strike zone too much. I was a little sporadic with everything. In June and July, I was going right after guys and getting results. I got away from that. I feel like I’ve come here with a little fire – the way I finished last year really bothered me – and I think I’m going after guys again.”

In Saturday’s 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox, both Nippert (two scoreless innings) and Madrigal (one scoreless) were also aggressive in attacking the strike zone.

“They were efficient today,” Washington said. “Everybody was efficient.” That’s what we need them to do. At  the end of the spring, they’ll make the decision about who is going to be on the roster and who won’t be.”

Here are my projections for the bullpen, figuring on Frank Francisco as the closer with C.J. Wilson and Eddie Guardado as the primary set up men:

RHP Josh Rupe: If he can command his sinking fastball to the outside corner of the plate against right-handed hitters, he could do a little of everything for the Rangers. But this team wants relievers to settle into roles, so you have to figure the guy who led the AL in relief innings last year might be a good candidate to pitch in long relief.

RHP Dustin Nippert: Because the Rangers have a history of getting so little out of the starting rotation, they need a guy who can go three innings on occasion. Nippert had six such outings and compiled a 3.29 ERA in those games. This could also be the “sixth” starter, who could jump in at a moment’s notice if a starter has to be scratched. Nippert made six starts at the end of the season and went at least five innings in four of them.

RHP Warner Madrigal: A “swing” role – somebody who could bounce between short and longer outings – could go to an apprentice late-inning man. Madrigal turns 25 in two weeks and is the youngest of these guys. He’s only pitched professionally for three seasons. There is plenty to learn. Pretty close to a perfect fit for this spot.

RHP Brendan Donnelly: First exposure to Derrick Turnbow, who could also be a fit for this seventh-inning/part-time role, included three walks and a hit batter. Perhaps my judgment is a bit clouded by that, but his violent motion and 59 walks allowed in his last 64 innings make him a little too much of a risk for me. Donnelly has pitched more in pennant races. If he’s recovered from Tommy John surgery, I think he gets the edge.