Savvy Bochy's 'pen management as advertised

This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ARLINGTON -- Bruce Bochy re-entered the world of baseball during a time of pivotal change at the Major League level, with pitch timers, shift restrictions and bigger bases all implemented for the 2023 season. But the biggest adjustment for the 67-year-old has been a rule that was implemented during his three-year hiatus from managing: the three-batter minimum for relievers.

“It's different to be honest,” Bochy said after the Rangers’ season-opening sweep of the Phillies. “But when you have guys that you are uncomfortable with throwing out there for three hitters, but you try to find the right pockets, too. Sometimes you're not able to do that, but you’re definitely looking at things differently thinking that way instead of batter to batter. It's taken away a little bit of strategy, because once you've got a man in there, you're done for three batters. But it’s not too much of an adjustment.”

For a manager known for savvy bullpen management during his years with the Giants, Bochy enters uncharted territory, even if he admits it hasn’t affected his personal strategy too much.

Early on this season, Bochy has run into a few situations of bullpen management that have been notable, the most obvious coming in Sunday night's 2-1 win over the Phillies. After starter Martín Pérez allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings, a trio of relievers in Brock Burke (two-thirds of an inning), Jonathan Hernández (1 2/3 innings) and Will Smith (one inning) combined to allow one hit and zero walks over 3 1/3 scoreless innings as Smith secured his first save.

It’s the type of bullpen management that the Rangers have been missing in their last six losing seasons and probably even the type of game the 2022 team -- which went 15-35 in one-run games -- would have lost.

Bochy said the bullpen usage in that game perfectly illustrates those pockets he was talking about with the lefty-righty matchups, and the fluidity of the bullpen roles early in the season. Smith can close, José Leclerc can close and even Ian Kennedy -- who pitched one scoreless inning Monday against the Orioles -- can close. And if the rotation stays healthy, the bullpen can continue to be even better.

“It's a very versatile bullpen where I can use all of them in the fifth or sixth inning or in the high-leverage times in seventh, eighth or ninth," Bochy said. "So it's a fun bullpen to balance, with the lefties and righties, too. I can get guys days off and be comfortable with bringing anybody in.”

It’s hard to tell how much a manager can truly affect a baseball game day-in and day-out, but Bochy’s ability to manage a bullpen has been a calling card for his Hall of Fame career.

It’s also worth noting that bullpen management is easy when the relievers are as dominant as they have been so far.

Through Tuesday night’s game against the Orioles, Rangers relievers have registered an MLB-leading 0.83 ERA (two earned runs in 21 2/3 innings), with an opponent slash line of .151/.225/.219. The Texas bullpen also is riding an 18 1/3-inning scoreless streak dating back to Opening Day against Philadelphia.

“They’ve done a terrific job,” Bochy said. “I mean, all of them are stepping up and doing a really nice job. It’s very, very encouraging, in the early going here with what's going on with the bullpen."