With Alexi Ogando done for the year after his oblique injury yesterday that forced him from the game, Dustin Nippert has been added by the Rangers to their playoff roster, replacing Ogando.
We thought, at one point, that the Ranger bullpen was going to be a strength this postseason. Instead, we have a bullpen that has Neftali Feliz, the two Darrens, and a bunch of guys the Rangers are hoping not to have to use.
How did we get here? We expected Frank Francisco and Alexi Ogando to be key guys in the middle to late innings, with Frankie, in particular, viewed as the key 8th inning guy. Francisco has missed the playoffs with an injury, and Ogando is now sidelined, as well.
We also thought that Tanner Scheppers would surely be on the playoff roster, as a guy who could go two innings in a fireman role, and get swings and misses in the late innings. Scheppers ended up never making the majors in 2010 after running out of gas late in the year (a development that isn't really shocking, given his limited innings the previous two years).
So three power righthanded arms that a lot of us felt would provide a big advantage in the playoffs are off the board. With no more than three games left in the season, the Rangers are going to no doubt ride their starters as hard and as deep into games as they can, particularly given how little backup there now is in the bullpen.