Skip Schumaker has already shown he’s willing to bend the Rangers’ pitching staff into something a little different, and that might be the blueprint worth carrying into 2027.
With the 2026 regular season nearing its end, Texas has been grinding through what has felt like October baseball for weeks, hanging around the Astros and other contenders in the race for a playoff spot. In that stretch, Schumaker has leaned on established starters in relief, asking them to cover multiple innings from the sixth inning on and finish games. Nathan Eovaldi, Trevor Williams and Jordan Montgomery have all been used that way for much of September, and Montgomery even picked up the first save of his 10-year career in Thursday’s home finale against the Mets.
The idea is not coming out of nowhere. Schumaker’s old club in Miami has been running a similar kind of experiment, using extra starters as swingmen to add quality innings and patch over bullpen holes between starts. Schumaker won Manager of the Year with the Marlins in 2024 before joining the Rangers in an advisory role, and now Clayton McCullough has taken that concept and pushed it even further.
McCullough has turned to former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez as relievers on what would normally be bullpen throw days. Alcantara just made a little bit of history, becoming the first pitcher since saves became an official stat in 1969 to do this in four straight appearances: start at least 5.0 innings, earn a save, start at least 5.0 innings again, and earn another save.
Since saves became official in 1969, only one MLB pitcher has had, over 4 consecutive appearances in a season,
a 5.0+ inning start
then a save
then another 5.0+ inning start
then another save
That one pitcher is Sandy Alcantara. pic.twitter.com/QWzdj2Woyh
- OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) September 24, 2026
That kind of usage opens the door to a bigger question: why can’t a starter’s bullpen day be treated as a live, one-inning game appearance instead of a flat side session? It’s a cleaner way to squeeze value out of a staff, and it could help a pitcher stay hot rather than sitting idle between starts.
Texas may not have the exact same group next year. Cal Quantrill, Montgomery and Williams are all headed for free agency after this season, and the bullpen picture is likely to look different with new names at Globe Life Field.
Still, the Rangers have already dabbled in something similar. Jacob Latz did it last season, and Quantrill did it a bit in 2026 before shifting from long relief into the club’s most dependable second-half starter.
That said, the wear and tear has shown up. Latz has hit a wall lately, and Quantrill is done for the year with a left lat injury. Even so, both arms have been among the Rangers’ most useful and flexible pieces while deGrom and Eovaldi have faded late in the year.
If Schumaker keeps pushing this direction, the likeliest candidates would be pitchers at the back of the rotation, the kind of arms a healthy Jack Leiter or Kumar Rocker could fill in 2027. That would allow Texas to protect veterans with tighter pitch counts, get a struggling starter back on the mound sooner, and maybe even take some of the burden off a closer over the course of a 162-game season.
The Rangers are already partway into this kind of modern reset. Schumaker has been aggressive about traditional roles this year, and if he wants to keep tweaking things, there’s a real argument for going further.
Done right, it could give Texas what amounts to a hidden extra arm in the bullpen most nights. That’s exactly the sort of edge a manager like Schumaker would seem to welcome.
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