Matt Bush, closer on the brink
Saturday turns the calendar to July, and Matt Bush is thankful. He didn’t have much use for this June baseball stuff.
[Fantasy Football is open! Sign up now]
Bush picked up his fourth loss of the month in Friday’s 8-7 meltdown at Chicago, and it was ugly all the way. The White Sox routinely squared the ball against Bush (4 H, 3 R), made loud contact. Bush didn’t record any strikeouts. The closer’s ERA rose to 4.03 by the end of things, the WHIP up to 1.55. His June ERA finished at 9.64.
Originally, this blog was going to be bursting with Keone Kela propaganda. The Rangers primary set-up man has a 2.64 ERA and 0.88 WHIP, with 42 strikeouts in 30.2 innings. Most of his profile screams out “future closer.” Alas, there’s just one little thing:
Banister said Keone Kela was unavailable tonight because of shoulder soreness
— TR Sullivan (@Sullivan_Ranger) July 1, 2017
Bottom line, I don’t trust Bush, short term or long term. To be fair, I don’t trust manager Jeff Banister, either. We know he has a history of curious decisions.
Maybe Kela’s shoulder will turn out to be fine. Perhaps Jose Leclerc, who has electric stuff but even worse control than Kela, will get a look. Maybe there’s a hidden, screened closer on the roster.
Just know that Bush could be in trouble. And this is a bullpen we need to have on high alert, even with a festive July weekend upon us. To be continued. Keep that fantasy app open.
