The Rangers announced that right-hander Jakob Junis has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to July 29, with a left adductor strain. Right-hander Winston Santos has been recalled in a corresponding move.
It’s unclear how serious the injury is or how much time Junis is expected to miss. Either way, it’s a notable loss for the Texas bullpen. Junis has been one of the club’s key setup guys in front of closer Jacob Latz this year.
Junis has thrown 40 innings, allowing 2.70 earned runs per nine. His 18.3% strikeout rate is a few ticks south of league average but his 4.3% walk rate is excellent, less than half of the league-wide 9.8% rate for relievers. Statcast gives him strong marks for his ability to stay off barrels and avoid hard contact. Though he doesn’t have the power profile teams often look for in a leverage reliever, he nonetheless leads the team with 14 holds.
The Rangers have a pretty uninspiring relief group on the whole. Their relievers have a collective 4.23 ERA, which puts them 19th out of the 30 clubs in the majors. Their 19.6% strikeout rate is better than just four other teams.
A report this week from Will Sammon, Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo of The Athletic noted that the Rangers were looking for a righty reliever to add to their bullpen. They did add one last night, as they picked up Chase Silseth from the Angels, alongside catcher Logan O’Hoppe. But the departure of Junis also subtracts a righty at the same time.
Presumably, the Rangers will keep looking for more arms between now and the August 3 deadline, though they have particular challenges in that search. They are reportedly working with minimal payroll flexibility and may have to target less-established arms like Silseth, who has not yet qualified for arbitration.
Photo courtesy of Dale Zanine, Imagn Images
