Texas Rangers reliever Sam Dyson isn’t concerned with role

Texas Rangers reliever Sam Dyson doesn’t much care about where he or any other pitcher fits in the bullpen in 2016. To Dyson, the job remains the same no matter the spot: get outs.

So will spring training involve a battle royal with the bevy of quality bullpen arms?

“I don’t really know about jockeying for position,” Dyson said Sunday from a winter caravan stop in North Fort Worth. “There always is. I mean look at [Shawn] Tolleson. He wasn’t the closer at the beginning of the year and in May he became the closer and kind of solidified himself as the closer.”

Dyson, who shaved his beard a month ago but intends to regrow it for the season, said most of the relievers could be counted on in any bullpen role.

“Everybody in the bullpen is trying to go out there and get three, six whatever outs they’re supposed to get,” said Dyson, who had a 1.15 ERA in 31 1/3 innings after joining the Rangers in a trade with the Miami Marlins at the July 31 deadline. “They’re going to help out regardless of the situation. So whether [Keone] Kela is the seventh or eighth inning guy, or [Tom] Wilhelmsen is the seventh or eighth inning guy it doesn’t really matter, we’re all there trying to win. Everybody down there is capable of being the seventh-eighth inning guy or the ninth inning guy. It’s just a matter of who they feel has had the rest, who’s the most capable person at that time to do the job.”

This story was originally published January 24, 2016 at 3:56 PM with the headline "Texas Rangers reliever Sam Dyson isn’t concerned with role."