Rangers' relievers emerging as major strength following dominant week

TL;DR

The Texas Rangers are showing strength in their bullpen after a dominant week, holding an 8-7 record and tying for first place in the AL West. They swept the Seattle Mariners and faced a competitive series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Rangers' relievers emerging as major strength following dominant week originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Coming into the 2026 season, there were some questions arising for the Texas Rangers. Do they have enough to be competitive? Can the bats keep up with the pitching staff? And how would the bullpen look after losing some quality arms?

Well, the Rangers are putting to rest a lot of these questions. They currently hold an 8-7 record going into Monday, which is good enough to tie the Athletics for first place in the AL West.

They had quite the test last week, facing off against the Seattle Mariners and then the Los Angeles Dodgers, and held their own. They swept the Mariners, and while they lost the series to the Dodgers, it was a tight and close series.

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Rangers' relievers emerging as major strength following dominant week

Pitching has been a major reason for the team's success this season. From the starting staff to the bullpen, Texas has been able to hold a 3.46 ERA so far, which is good for seventh-best across MLB.

With the week they just had, Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter has more hope for this club. They have jumped a few places in the latest power rankings, but the offense will need to step up if they want to continue to rise in the rankings.

"The bullpen was a major question mark for the Rangers entering the season, but the relief corps has been one of the best in baseball with a 2.35 ERA that ranks third in the majors. The offense still hasn't hit its stride while scoring just 3.9 runs per game, but the pieces falling into place in the bullpen is a significant development."

Now, if the offense can get something going, this could be a team that the AL will want to pay attention to. They are the last team not named the Dodgers to win a World Series, and the fanbase would love to see this team as a contender once again.