3 Observations from the Rangers Opening Day Game

3. The Bullpen Looks Better

Last season, the Ranger's one glaring weakness was their bullpen. The bullpen struggled mightily throughout the season. They finished with a 4.77 ERA, which was the seventh-worst ERA in the league. They were also in the bottom half league in blown saves, which the bullpen allowed 34 of. With how poorly the bullpen performed last season, it is truly a miracle the Rangers were able to win the World Series, let alone make it to the World Series.

This past offseason Chris Young vowed to fix the Rangers bullpen and make them into a much more reliable group of arms then they were last season. He did this by signing several arms who were on the market, including veteran pitchers Kirby Yates and Dave Robertson, who have both been known to be solid pieces of whatever bullpen they have been a part of throughout their careers.

During Thursday evenings game it appears that Young's commitment to invest in arms this past winter worked out pretty well. Once starter Nathan Eovaldi was taken out of the game after a solid six innings of work, the Rangers could put their renovated bullpen to the test.

Through four innings, four different Rangers came out of the bullpen, and all of them pitched pretty well. The new additions of Yates and Robertson were both able to make their first appearance for the Rangers, and both were able to perform exceptionally well, with neither giving up a hit. Robertson was able to get his first save of the year in the bottom of the 10th. Returning Rangers Josh Sporz and Johnathan Leclerc were both able to make their season debuts and pitched well, helping the Rangers secure their first victory.

Overall even though it was only the first game the performance from the bullpen was a good indication that it will not be the liability that it was throughout last season.

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