Young Texas Rangers Reliever’s Demotion Likely Bump in Promising Career

The Texas Rangers had few holdovers from last year’s bullpen, and one of them is now heading back to Triple-A — for now.

The Rangers made a move before Wednesday’s game to bolster their bullpen, as they called up Jacob Latz from Round Rock. To make room, Texas sent rookie Marc Church back to the minor leagues.

The move is a bit curious, as Church’s raw numbers are solid. He has a 3.86 ERA in five appearances and only allowed two earned runs in 4.2 innings. His last appearance, against Seattle on Friday, saw him give up just one hit in one inning, while striking out one.

He didn’t allow a walk, which is one of the reasons the Rangers are sending him down for now. Even with some improvement, he’s issued more walks — six — than strikeouts.

His two-pitch mix is still creating a solid whiff rate, as his 28.6% rate is in the 65th percentile among Major League players. But it’s the consistency, along with the walk rate, that has him heading back to the minors.

The 24-year-old has been a project for Texas since he was selected in the 18th round of the 2019 MLB draft from North Atlanta High School. He wasn’t a pitcher until late in his high school career, but his stuff has always drawn respect from the organization.

It’s part of the reason Texas called up him at the end of last season and gave him a inning in the season’s final weekend. It also moved him onto the 40-man roster and protected him from the Rule 5 draft in December.

In the minors, Church had a far better strikeout to walk ratio. He struck out 235 and walked 70 in 164 career innings. He also had a 16-11 record with a 4.01 ERA.

Texas isn’t done with him yet. But for now, Latz is a better option.

For one, the Rangers could use more left-handed arms in the bullpen and Latz can help there. He was another part of Texas’ bullpen last year, though he went up and down between the minors and the Majors last season. He ended up making 46 appearances last year, the most of any left-hander in the bullpen.

He might have made the opening-day roster had he not dealt with mid back tightness during his first live batting practice in spring training.

With Round Rock he went 0-2 with a 3.12 ERA in 8.2 innings. He also struck out 14 hitters and walked eight in five games, representing the one thing Texas needs right now — a solid strikeout to walk ratio.

Church will get where Latz is — eventually.