With the Rangers' surprising season in the books, let's take a look at the season on a position-by-position basis.
2015 Setup man
The guy: Sam Dyson
The promoted: Shawn Tolleson
The mess: Ross Ohlendorf/Tanner Scheppers
Before the Rangers pulled the trigger and demoted Neftali Feliz as closer, setup man Shawn Tolleson was one of the few bright spots in a bullpen littered with trash. When Tolleson was named closer in mid-May, the rest of the bullpen struggled.
Then, came the trade deadline. Jon Daniels acquired Jake Diekman and Sam Dyson — both unheralded at the time — and both turned into lockdown, late-game relievers with the snap of a finger. Dyson, in particular, was suddenly untouchable at the plate. As a Ranger, he worked 31 1/3 regular-season innings with a 1.15 ERA with 30 strikeouts and four walks. Dyson had a 2.45 ERA in his four postseason games.
Dyson was a huge reason the Rangers were able to shorten games over the second half of the season and will be a central figure in the bullpen in 2016.
