Rangers have ‘pen-sive thoughts as Deadline nears

ARLINGTON — Rangers general manager Jon Daniels has made it clear where the team intends to upgrade as the Aug. 1 non-waiver Trade Deadline approaches.

“Pitching would be our priority if we were able to put something together,” he said Wednesday, despite the news that designated hitter Prince Fielder might miss the rest of the season with a herniated disk in his neck and Shin-Soo Choo will miss 10-14 days with lower back inflammation.

• Moreland aims to step up in Prince’s absence

A part of the pitching focus will be centered around improving the team’s heavily used bullpen, which has a 6.19 ERA over the past 15 games and has worked 56 2/3 innings during that span.

Even with solid back-end work from closer Sam Dyson and left-hander Jake Diekman (on the 15-day disabled list) and the breakthroughs of rookie right-handers Matt Bush and Tony Barnette, it’s likely the Rangers will add another arm to that mix in the coming weeks to fortify a group that has had its ups and downs.

Right-hander Shawn Tolleson, who began the year as the team’s closer, has struggled most of the season, and he has allowed nine runs over his last four outings. Right-hander Luke Jackson and left-hander Andrew Faulkner — the …

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