Yates secured a save in Sunday's 6-4 win over Atlanta, striking out one while allowing no baserunners in 1.1 scoreless innings.
Yates entered in the eighth with Atlanta threatening with two men on and two outs and struck out Orlando Arcia to get out of the jam. The 37-year-old returned for the ninth and retired the side in order to lock down the save. Yates seems to have a firm grip on the closer role for now after picking up three saves and a win over the last week. He's yet to allow a run and has posted a 0.40 WHIP and 11:2 K:BB in 10 innings this year.
Yates earned the save in Thursday's 9-7 win over Detroit, allowing one hit while logging a strikeout in 1.1 scoreless innings.
Yates entered with two outs in the eighth inning, striking out Spencer Torkelson to strand the tying and go-ahead runs on base before working around a two-out single in the ninth en route to his second save this season. Yates has yet to allow a run through his first eight appearances (8.2 innings) this year. The 37-year-old veteran has saves in two of the Rangers' last four games, as he looks to be firming his grasp on the ninth-inning job in Texas.
Yates (2-0) picked up the win in Wednesday's 5-4 victory over the Tigers. He walked one and struck out four over 1.1 scoreless innings.
The Rangers had a 4-1 lead entering the bottom of the sixth inning but allowed Detroit to score single runs in the next three frames to tie the game. Yates entered to get the final out of the eighth inning and was the pitcher of record when Josh Smith doubled in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth. Yates, who has not allowed a run over 7.1 innings, has become the closer following the removal of Jose Leclerc from that role.
Yates secured the save after throwing a perfect ninth inning Monday against the Tigers. After the game, manager Bruce Bochy noted that the team likes where it's at in terms of the closer role, Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News reports.
Bochy went on to mention that the club will continue to weigh its options at closer, but he likes the way Yates has been throwing the ball so far this season, per McFarland. The right-hander has yet to surrender a run in six appearances, fanning five batters and walking one over six frames.
Yates allowed a walk and struck out one over a hitless and scoreless ninth inning in Friday's 12-8 win over Houston.
The Rangers raced to a big lead before the Astros made a late push to force manager Bruce Bochy to deploy his trusted arms -- David Robertson, then Yates -- to close out the game. Bochy told Jeff Wilson of RangersToday.com that closer Jose Leclerc was temporarily being moved to low-leverage situations after Leclerc pitched the sixth inning Friday, when Texas was leading, 12-3. Yates has not allowed a run over five appearances and could be in the mix for save opportunities along with Robertson.
Yates allowed one hit and one walk while striking out one over one inning in Thursday's spring game against the Diamondbacks.
Yates made his third Cactus League appearance and has allowed a run, three hits and one walk while striking out six over three innings. Last year, when Yates posted a 3.28 ERA with 80 strikeouts over 60.1 innings, was the right-hander's first fully healthy year since 2019. He has closing experience and will be part of a late-inning crew that includes Jose Leclerc, David Robertson and Josh Sborz.
Rangers' Kirby Yates: Inks one-year deal with Texas
Rotowire
Yates signed a one-year contract Tuesday with the Rangers, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.
The one-year deal will be worth about $4.5 million, per Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. Yates registered a steady 3.28 ERA with 80 strikeouts over 60.1 innings of relief for Atlanta in 2023, even tallying five saves along the way. The 36-year-old right-hander projects to fill a setup role with the reigning World Series champions in 2024. He turns 37 years old in March.
