Rangers bullpen depth takes another hit before the deadline

Texas already knew its pitching depth was thin heading into deadline week. Now it's thinner. The Rangers placed right-hander Jakob Junis on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 29, with a left adductor strain, according to MLB Trade Rumors.

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Rangers Place Jakob Junis On Injured List t.co/JbEh3PZQRa

This isn't Junis's first trip to the IL this season either. He missed nearly 3 weeks from July 1-17 with a right hip impingement before coming back and immediately re-establishing himself as one of the more reliable arms in the Rangers bullpen. This time it's a different injury on the other side of his body, and per the report, it's unclear how serious it is or how long he'll be out.

The stats explain why this stings. Junis has been Texas's primary setup man in front of closer Jacob Latz, leading the team with 14 holds while posting a 2.70 ERA across 40 innings. His walk rate sits at 4.3%, less than half the league average, and he's been quietly excellent at limiting hard contact all year. That's exactly the kind of reliable middle-relief arm a contending team doesn't want to lose in late July.

Texas responded by recalling right-hander Winston Santos from Triple-A Round Rock to fill the vacant roster spot, but that's a name swap, not a replacement for what Junis had been providing. The timing is brutal too. The Rangers just added Chase Silseth from the Angels to shore up pitching needs ahead of the August 3 deadline, and now they're immediately playing defense with the arms they already had.

For a Rangers team trying to figure out whether it's buying or selling before Monday, an unexpected bullpen injury is the last thing general manager Chris Young needed on his plate. Watch for Texas to either kick the tires on more relief help before the deadline closes or lean harder on Santos and the rest of the pen until Junis is healthy again.