Statistically they have hovered around the 12-15 range for a while. The offense just haven't given them comfortable leads to work with for most of the season, and they've pitched among the most innings in MLB to cover for a young staff.
If the bats could produce like .5 more runs/game and the starters could last 2 more outs on average, I think perceptions of this pen would be very different (especially given the shoestring budget).