Quantrill's number is retired for the year. Latz gets the ninth.

Jacob Latz made the AL All-Star team this season, which is worth remembering now that the job is officially his. Cal Quantrill posted a 2.84 ERA over 111 innings before his year ended — good work, gone at the worst possible time — and Texas is 75-76, leading the AL West, with eleven games to play.

The depth chart has Latz first, Kumar Rocker second, and Jakob Junis third at closer. That's a workable list on paper. Whether it holds through a one-game lead and a playoff push is a different question, and one the Rangers don't have the luxury of answering slowly.

The rotation can carry some of this. DeGrom has been sharp all year, Eovaldi is back, and Gore has eaten innings even when he hasn't been clean. But late-inning leverage is its own thing, and Quantrill was the guy Texas trusted there. Latz earned the All-Star nod; now he earns something harder.