Robert

Garcia

Schumaker allowed the thought that Alexis Diaz could eventually factor into the equation too if he pitches well in Spring Training. Garcia finished 2025 with a 2.95 ERA in 71 games, but had only nine saves and took eight losses out of the bullpen. Martin finished the year with two saves and has the more established track record, but is also entering his age-40 season. This looks like a situation that has yet to fully unfold in camp, but we’d bet on Garcia to be the best bet to close as of now.

Garcia has mostly been held back for the ninth in recent months, but he pitched the seventh in a tie game today in his first appearance since leaving Sunday’s game with back spasms. This makes three straight outings in which he’s given up a run, and Phil Maton has overtaken him as the Rangers’ reliever worth rostering right now.

Garcia underwent an MRI over the weekend that didn’t reveal anything serious after exiting Saturday’s relief outing against the Mariners with back spasms. As fantasy managers are aware, back issues can be tricky matters, but it sounds like he’s not dealing with an issue that would require a trip to the injured list. He’ll continue to handle the closing duties for Texas with recently added veteran Phil Maton probably in the mix as well.

Garcia clearly wasn’t at his best while blowing his second-straight save. The left-hander will all-but-assuredly undergo testing, but a trip to the injured list seems more likely than not. Newly acquired high-leverage specialist Phil Maton is the logical choice to take over the closing role in his absence and should be rostered in all fantasy formats if Garcia requires a trip to the injured list.

Garcia gave up a game-tying two-run homer to Randy Arozarena, and didn’t appear comfortable in his next few offerings. There should be an update shortly on what exactly Garcia’s ailment is and why he was forced out of the contest.

Garcia was tasked with getting the bottom of the order out, but he gave up a single to Dom Canzone, and J.P. Crawford took him deep to give Seattle the win and Garcia his fourth blown save. The Rangers made a few moves to improve their bullpen, and Garcia is far from a lock to receive save chances over these final two months; especially if he pitches like he did Friday.

The phrase underrated gets thrown around liberally these days, but Coulombe is legitimately one of the more underrated pitchers in baseball. The 35-year-old veteran southpaw has been nearly untouchable this season for Minnesota, recording a microscopic 1.16 ERA and 31/9 K/BB ratio across 31 innings (40 appearances). He fills a significant need for the Rangers as an experienced high-leverage reliever capable of stepping in to handle the occasional save chance, if needed, alongside fellow lefty Robert Garcia.

Garcia was very impressive, and needed just 10 pitches to get through the outing; nine of those landing for strikes. He’s up to nine saves on the season, and the left-hander’s ERA has dipped to 2.61. There’s talk about the Rangers acquiring a closer for the final stretch, but Garcia may have done enough to keep the job.

Through no fault of his own, Robert Garcia’s stint as the Rangers’ primary closer seems likely to come to an end later this week. The left-hander is 8-for-10 saving games as a closer this year and also has 11 holds while being more frequently used as a setup man early on.

It feels like there may be a new closer in Texas. After getting just two of the Rangers’ final save chances to end the first half, Garcia has seen the first two opportunities coming out of the break and saved both successfully. There were a couple of talented left-handed batters – Lawrence Butler and Tyler Soderstrom – due up in this ninth inning for the Athletics, so there’s likely still an element of Bruce Bochy playing matchups in the ninth inning. An elite reliever like Garcia has value even with just a partial share of closing duties though.