Strikeouts? Velocity? Rangers' bullpen finds other ways to success

For a team that had to rebuild most of its bullpen over the offseason, the Rangers are succeeding by bucking a few modern trends.

Texas finished third in the American League in reliever ERA last year, then saw the three pitchers who tossed the most relief innings in 2025 all leave Arlington, with Hoby Milner and Jacob Webb signing with the Cubs and Shawn Armstrong heading to Cleveland. But 34 games into the 2026 campaign, the Rangers’ bullpen has been, simply put, the best in baseball.

The Rangers’ 2.74 bullpen ERA leads MLB by a healthy margin. A look at the strikeout leaderboard, though, tells a different story. With 103 strikeouts in 121 1/3 innings, Texas is 28th in strikeouts by relief pitchers, just one more than the Twins and Yankees entering Monday.

That revamped bullpen faces a stiff test starting Tuesday night in the Bronx against a Yankees team that leads the AL in runs per game, home runs and slugging. Aaron Judge and Ben Rice have been as formidable an offensive duo as any in baseball, but Texas might be perfectly equipped to neutralize the Bronx Bombers.

Judge entered Monday batting .364 and slugging a whopping .818 against fastballs, but breaking balls and especially offspeed pitches had given him more trouble. Practically nothing has given the lefty-swinging Rice trouble in ‘26 -- his 1.214 OPS was far and away the best in MLB among qualified hitters, and he’s been even better against same-handed pitching -- but a bullpen stocked with lefties is an asset against a lineup that also includes Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Jazz Chisholm Jr.

How are the Rangers succeeding late in games without striking batters out in an era where strikeout rate continues to skyrocket? And who are the key cogs contributing to a bullpen that is keeping Texas afloat despite an offense that is last in the AL in runs per game?

Left-hander Tyler Alexander is a good place to start. A 31-year-old who was never much better than league average in his first seven big league seasons as both a starter and reliever, Alexander signed with the Rangers in mid-December and immediately became one of manager Skip Schumaker’s go-to options in high-leverage spots. He earned just the second save of his career on March 28 in a 10-inning win in Philadelphia, then had another in Baltimore two days later.

Before his first rough outing with Texas on Sunday night in Detroit, Alexander had not allowed a run in his last 10 appearances, including three in which he recorded at least four outs. And he’s doing it not by missing bats, but by missing barrels.

Alexander’s whiff rate is one of the lowest in the league, and his four-seam fastball averages just 91 mph. But of the 47 batted balls against him entering Sunday, none found the barrel of the bat.

A big part of Alexander’s newfound success is that he and the Rangers seem to have realized that the four-seamer is not a pitch he needs to – or should – rely on. It was his most-used pitch in ‘25, when he was with the Brewers and White Sox, but it has become his least-used through the first month-plus in ‘26. Instead, Alexander is relying much more on his sinker, cutter and changeup, and it has contributed to the highest ground ball rate and lowest line drive rate of his career.

Right-hander Jakob Junis, another starter-turned-reliever, is also having a career year with a similar profile to Alexander’s. He signed with Texas, his sixth big league team, in January and has become a key part of the Rangers’ closer-by-committee system.

Apart from an Apr. 16 outing against the Athletics in which he allowed three runs, Junis has been virtually spotless in his other 13 appearances, with saves in three straight outings last month against the Mariners and Dodgers.

Like Alexander, Junis does not throw very hard, generate whiffs or strike batters out at a high rate. But he has allowed just one barrel on 46 batted balls and is producing more ground balls than ever before. Junis’ most-used pitch has long been his slider, but the changeup is becoming a more important part of his arsenal, especially against lefties. Neither Junis nor Alexander has given up a home run all year.

Left-hander Jacob Latz has become another big piece of the bullpen puzzle, with three saves in four chances after working as both a starter and reliever a year ago. Another lefty, Jalen Beeks, is thriving in his first season with the Rangers with a heavy dose of four-seamers and changeups. And it’s not like Texas is allergic to velocity – rookie righty Gavin Collyer’s fastball averages nearly 98 mph, and he has not allowed a run in 7 1/3 innings.

It remains to be seen whether these numbers are sustainable. Alexander’s .295 opponents’ batting average suggests he may be due for some regression, as does Junis’ FIP (fielding-independent pitching) that is more than twice as high as his ERA. But for now, the Rangers have found a formula, albeit an unorthodox one, for getting the job done in relief.