Over the last two nights, Matt Harrison and Martin Perez worked a combined seven innings, with the latter getting through only three outs before being yanked as the Yankees put up 21 runs on the Rangers on Tuesday night.
Harrison pitched six innings on Monday night, but they weren't particularly effective and the lefty was teetering on the ledge of being removed before he got through those six innings.
It's becoming a trend that is killing the Rangers' already overworked bullpen, and not only are they overworked, they just aren't that good.
The Rangers used seven pitchers on Tuesday night, including position player Adam Rosales, but they burned through both of their long men (Wandy Rodriguez and Phil Klein) after they optioned their long man, Anthony Bass, after he worked on consecutive days over the weekend.
The bullpen, which struggles as is, is really struggling when you talk about tiring guys out and having to bring guys up from the minors because your big-league guys simply need a day or two off.
It's to be expected that Harrison and Perez won't be at full strength right now, and probably won't be for the remainder of the season, but the Rangers need to do something — make a spot start, use an off-day, etc. — to get Harrison and Perez away from pitching on back-to-back days in the team's rotation. Otherwise, their bullpen is going to die a slow, painful death.
