Banister ‘flying without a net’ without long man

ARLINGTON — Rangers manager Jeff Banister admitted that he is “flying without a net” by not having a long reliever.

The Rangers could have been in trouble on Thursday if Lucas Harrell had not survived his early-inning troubles. Instead he fought his way through six innings, although he gave up six runs and threw 118 pitches.

Harrell’s toughness in the intense heat was remarkable, but it was a reminder that the Rangers don’t have a true long reliever.

“I was ultra-aware of that going into the game,” Banister said. “Yeah, the Flying Wallendas didn’t have a net either.”

The Rangers went with eight relievers early in the season, with such pitchers as Phil Klein, Cesar Ramos and Nick Martinez identified as long man. Right now they are going with seven relievers with the extra player on the bench. If the Rangers went with eight relievers, they would have to cut loose either Drew Stubbs or Delino DeShields.

“You take away one of the position players, and it takes away some of the usage we have been able to deploy,” Banister said.

Left-hander Alex Claudio is the one reliever best equipped to handle long relief, but he has not allowed a run in his last nine innings, and Banister has been using him in middle and late situations.

Brocail on Diekman: According to pitching …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com