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Texas Rangers pitcher Chase Silseth (63) turns the ball over to manager Skip Schumaker as Cody Freeman, left, and Elias D\u00edaz, right, stand by during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/Tony Gutierrez)<\/p>\n
Tony Gutierrez\/AP Photo\/Tony Gutierrez<\/p>\n
PHOENIX \u2013 Skip\u00a0Schumaker spent another sleepless night Thursday. When bullpen moves don\u2019t work out, it keeps the manager up. Safe to say, he\u2019s had a lot of sleepless nights lately.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cOn a day like yesterday when things don\u2019t work out, you look internally,\u201d Schumaker said Friday as the Rangers<\/a> tried to shake off a blown three-run lead at Seattle<\/a> and prepare for maybe their last stand this season against Arizona. \u201cDid I push the right button? Am I doing the right thing? You always look inside out to try to make sure I\u2019m putting the guys in the best situation to succeed.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s always hard at the tail end of a season when innings counts and typical fatigue start to pile up. It\u2019s even more difficult considering most of the Rangers\u2019 key bullpen arms are pitching in higher leverage situations than ever before. Due to their self-imposed spending limitations<\/a>, the Rangers improved the bullpen less than any other area of the club. The \u201cbig\u201d acquisition, Chris Martin, is long gone after posting a 9.00 ERA in 16 games.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The thinness of the bullpen is showing. On Thursday, Jakob Junis, the most experienced reliever in the bullpen, failed to retire any of the four batters he faced in a disastrous seventh inning that saw the Rangers lose a 3-0 lead on Julio Rodriguez\u2019s three-run homer.\u00a0<\/p>\n For the record, Schumaker did all the calculations in his head of how he might have better deployed his relievers after Jacob deGrom<\/a> had to leave an outstanding start due to groin tightness. Perhaps he could have turned to a lefty, since two of the first three hitters due up in the seventh were left-handed. But he valued the first out of the inning and the matchup against Rodriguez as the potential highest-leverage situation of the inning. \u00a0<\/p>\n His plan had been to use Junis for the seventh and turn to his one elite arm, Jacob Latz, for the final two innings. Latz was rested and ready. The plan blew up four batters in.\u00a0<\/p>\n