Latz's start to '26 hasn't just been good -- it's historic

This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry's Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

WEST SACRAMENTO -- All Jacob Latz really wanted was to be able to pitch innings that mattered.

It sounds obvious. But Latz made sure the Rangers knew that.

Latz -- who had a 2.84 ERA in 85 2/3 innings in 2025 -- spent all spring in the midst of a competition for the fifth spot in the Rangers’ rotation. He eventually lost out to Kumar Rocker, and the 30-year-old lefty had obvious questions about what that meant for him in the grand scheme of things.

Latz, for his part, wanted to know what his role would be out of the bullpen. He didn’t want to be pitching in mop-up duty or in blowouts. He wanted his innings to matter. He told manager Skip Schumaker and pitching coach Jordan Tiegs as much.

“It was like, ‘Hey you didn't get the job, but you're gonna get big outs for us. You're going to be in leverage situations when we're winning the game,’” Latz recalled of the conversation. “Starting games is awesome, because you can impact the game for six innings. You can really take over a game and get a 'W' next to your name. Leverage is, like, the next best thing. As long as I can impact the game that way, then I'm good with it.”

Latz was always going to break camp with the big league club; that was never in question. But whether it was going to be in the rotation or bullpen was up in the air.

Neither Rocker nor Latz blew away the staff in camp, but Latz struggled, allowing 14 earned runs in 15 2/3 Cactus League innings (8.04 ERA). That wasn’t entirely why he lost the fifth starter spot. But it’s clear that he wasn’t at his best throughout camp.

“You never fall in or out of love for someone in Spring Training,” Schumaker said. “With Jacob, we knew he was going to be on the team. We didn't know what role was going to be. We felt really good about him in high leverage, the way our bullpen was looking to get guys out in big spots. We still think he can be a starter. There's no doubt about it, but the way our roster was looking and being constructed, we were going to use him in very valuable situations.”

Opponents opened the season 0-for-30 against Latz, marking the longest hitless streak ever by a Texas pitcher to begin the season in franchise history (previous high: Yu Darvish, 26 in 2013). The home run he gave up to Max Muncy in Los Angeles on April 10 was the first hit he surrendered all season. Opponents are still 3-for-35 (.086) against him in 2026.

“He’s as valuable of a piece that you can have on your pitching staff, as far as starter and reliever, multiple innings, multiple leverage innings, anything,” Schumaker said. “All along it's been just like, ‘Yeah, whatever you need.’ After I told him he didn't win the fifth starting spot, it could have gone another direction. That just shows you the growth and the maturity. He’s such a pro. We're lucky to have him.”

For all that Latz has given to the Rangers over the last two years, including becoming one of the most valuable pitchers as the swingman in 2025, the way he’s carried himself through it is what has really mattered.

When he didn’t get the fifth starter job, his attention immediately turned to how he was going to be able to help the team win games from the bullpen. He’s been able to turn the page and put the team first at every step of the way in his young big league career.

“The way I look at it, you can sulk on it and let it carry you out there, and then you perform bad and it still only hurts myself, right?” Latz said. “It doesn't do me any good. If anything, I would like to get more upset or pissed off. I pitch better when I have a little bit of an anger to me. If I'm out there carrying a disappointment on the mound, it's really only going to hurt me.

“And at the same time, I want to be a good teammate. We have a good group. Everyone in that clubhouse is people you want to root for, so I want to be part of that group, too.”