Texas Rangers: Something is seriously wrong with Sam Dyson

Texas Rangers closer Dyson entered Tuesday night’s game with a 5-2 lead and a shot at his first save of the season. Instead, he surrendered the lead, and the Rangers lost their fifth game of the season, 6-5.

They say that the final three outs of a baseball game are the hardest for a pitcher to earn, and Texas Rangers closer Sam Dyson is the latest proof of that. With the Rangers holding a solid three run lead, Dyson followed a great start from Cole Hamels, who was vying for his first win of the season, himself. But Dyson fell apart and Texas ultimately fell by the score of 6-5. It seems like a familiar story for Rangers fans.

After Shawn Tolleson struggled to close games in a similar fashion last year, Dyson took over closing duties in mid-May. He went on to notch 38 saves on the year while blowing just five for an 88% save percentage.

But as is the recent history of Texas Rangers closers, he’s suddenly lost that knack to start the year. While it may seem a bit early to say so, a change should at least be considered.

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With the Rangers up by three heading into the bottom of the ninth Tuesday night, Dyson took the ball to get the final three. But a gauntlet that included Danny Espinosa, Yunel Escobar, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols proved a little too treacherous for Dyson. By the time center fielder Carlos Gomez squeezed the third and final out into his glove, Dyson had lost the lead and nearly the game.

The blown save marks his second of the young season and nearly became his third loss. He’s yet to earn a save in four appearances. Perhaps a change is due, but who should get the chance? Here are the options for manager Jeff Banister.

Sam Dyson

The first option is to leave things alone. This is the most likely scenario, as the Rangers are just seven games into the season. Perhaps showing a little confidence in him after his four rough outings could do him some good.

His issue though, appears to be non-physical as he reached 94 MPH+ with his fastball Tuesday evening. But like little microcosms of his season as a whole, he’s had trouble finishing individual at bats.

Dyson showed two clear examples of this in Tuesday night’s Rangers loss against Escobar and Trout. Facing both hitters, Dyson jumped out 0-2 in the count, but couldn’t put that final strike over the plate, or force an out with the bat. Instead, both hitters roped hard-hit doubles off Dyson. Both men later scored in the inning, playing critical roles in Dyson’s unraveling.

Jeremy Jeffress

Last season, the Rangers made a pretty bold move by adding Jeremy Jeffress in with the Jonathan Lucroy deal. He was the primary closer for Milwaukee before he came over and makes the most sense due to his experience.

Prior to the trade, he’d earned 27 saves with a 2.22 earned run average. Despite opposing hitters batting .262 against him, he blew just one save in his 28 chances. Once he came to Texas, took on more of a setup role, but was even more effective, allowing just a .227 average.

Heading into Tuesday night’s game, opposing hitters were hitting a mere .222 against him in four ballgames. But he also showed his vulnerability Tuesday night.

Getting the ball as the 10th inning pitcher, Jeffress faced just four hitters to end the ballgame. However, he didn’t do it in the good way. A sequence of walk-catcher interference-single-single ended the evening and handed Texas their fifth loss of the season. Granted, it was one ballgame in a non-save situation, no less. But he’s just as much to blame for Tuesday night’s sad ending as Dyson.

Matt Bush

Most of baseball is now familiar with the off-the-field story of Matt Bush. On the field, he had a stellar rookie season, posting a 2.48 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings. He had a penchant for making some big outs in late innings and nabbed 22 holds, trailing only Jake Diekman.

He has the makeup of a closer. He’s a power pitcher, covered in tats and of course has the background that rivals Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn of Major League fame.

Right-handers hit just .171 against Bush in 2016 and lefties weren’t much better at .238. He misses a lot of bats and the ones he doesn’t still make poor contact.

While his ERA is a bit high this season at 4.91, he’s still held opposing hitters to an average of just .214. But the home run he allowed to Encarnacion in the opener did cost him a blown save. Nevertheless, he should still receive consideration for the gig.

Next: Rangers need Hamels to set the tone in opener vs. LAA

In the end, something will need to be done and Banister acknowledged as such following the game. He tends to stick with his guys that already have roles, which is why Dyson still seems like the front-runner right now. But if this keeps up much longer, a change will need to happen and Jeffress and Bush should get first crack.