Luke Jackson News: Emerges as closer candidate

Jackson struck out a pair in a perfect ninth inning to notch a save in Monday's exhibition game versus the Royals.

It was Robert Garcia in the seventh inning and Chris Martin in the eighth inning before Rangers manager Bruce Bochy handed things off to Jackson, who closed out a three-run victory. After the contest, Bochy noted that how he lined up the bullpen is "pretty close" to how he plans to deploy them in the regular season, Michael Bier of Foul Territory TV reports. The skipper added that the roles are not yet completely defined, so there's still some murkiness with this situation. Martin and Garcia had been viewed as the top two candidates to close for the Rangers, but Jackson now appears to be firmly in the mix and perhaps the favorite for saves.