Arlington, Texas – The Texas Rangers today announced the recipients of the club’s 2026 team awards as selected by the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Player of the Year – Ezequiel Duran: Duran, 27, set single-season career highs in hits (140), doubles (27), triples (4), home runs (17), RBI (83), stolen bases (12), and walks (46), accruing a career-best and team-high 4.2 wins above replacement (Baseball-Reference). He also totaled a team-best 4.4 fWAR (FanGraphs), the T15th-highest mark in the A.L. Duran led the Rangers in games of 3-or-more hits (12, 5th in A.L.) and contests with 4-or-more hits (3, T3rd in A.L.). On defense, the utilityman became just the third player in club history to make defensive starts at all seven non-pitcher/catcher positions in a season as he amassed a club-best 17 outs above average (Statcast) and was one of 14 players in MLB with 1+ OAA at a league-high 3 different positions (11-SS, 3-2B, 2-3B). Duran was responsible for 3 of Texas’ 6 walk-off plate appearances, becoming the 9th Ranger with 3+ walk-offs in a season (2nd in last 10 seasons).
Pitcher of the Year – Jacob Latz: The 30-year-old Latz, who was Texas’ lone All-Star representative at the 2026 Midsummer Classic in Philadelphia, registered a 2.13 ERA (17 ER/72.0 IP) and 30 saves across 58 games/one start for Texas in 2026. The 30 saves ranked 6th in the A.L./T10th in MLB and were the most by a left-handed pitcher in a single season in Rangers history. Included in those 30 saves were 13 saves of 1.1+ IP and 7 saves of 2.0 IP – both the most in MLB last season. Latz’s 2.13 ERA was the lowest by any MLB left-handed pitcher (min. 70.0 IP) and 9th-lowest overall. He was selected as the A.L. Reliever of the Month for June after notching an MLB-best 11 saves and posting a 1.13 ERA (2 ER/16.0 IP) across 12 games. For the season, Texas went 48-10 (.828) in Latz’s 58 games, the 4th-best team winning percentage in a single A.L. pitcher’s appearances (.877-TB’s B. Baker, .855-CLE’s C. Smith, .830-BOS’ A. Chapman).
Rookie of the Year – Peyton Gray: Gray, 31, owned a perfect 6-0 record with a 3.86 ERA (24 ER/56.0 IP) and a 9.64 strikeouts per 9.0 innings figure across 49 relief appearances for Texas in 2026, his first Major League campaign after spending parts of 9 seasons in the minors, independent leagues, and foreign winter circuits. He was the only pitcher in MLB to earn 6-or-more wins without a loss this year and became the second Texas rookie in club history to achieve the feat, joining Robbie Ross Jr. who also was 6-0 in 2012. After making his Major League debut on April 23 vs. Pittsburgh, Gray remained with the big league club for the rest of the season, ranking 2nd on the team in appearances during that span to Tyler Alexander (63). The Columbus, Ind. native, who initially joined the organization on a minor league contract in January 2025, led A.L. rookie relievers in victories during his debut campaign.
The Harold McKinney Good Guy Award – Brandon Nimmo: In his 11th Major League season, first with Texas after being acquired via trade from New York-NL in November 2025, Nimmo led the Rangers with 154 hits and 36 doubles over a team-high-tying 155 games played. The 33-year-old outfielder ranked highly among A.L. bats in doubles (2nd) and multi-hit games (4th, career-best and team-high 47) while producing 226 hard-hit balls, 6th-most on the Junior Circuit. Nimmo achieved multiple career milestones in 2026, tallying his 1,000th career hit on April 18 at Seattle and his 500th career RBI on July 18 at Atlanta. As Texas’ primary rightfielder, the Cheyenne, Wyo. product robbed 3 home runs and registered 3 outfield assists, 2nd on the club to Wyatt Langford’s 5 assists. Nimmo was a lineup mainstay and served as the Rangers’ leadoff hitter (42 starts) and cleanup man (70 starts) for significant portions of the season.
Richard Durrett Hardest Working Ranger – Justin Foscue: The 27-year-old former first-round selection by Texas (2020, 14th overall) enjoyed a breakout campaign in which he set career highs in games (100), hits (61), doubles (13), home runs (11), and RBI (34), compiling a .271/.332/.484/.816 (61-225) slash line. A reliable weapon against left-handed pitching, Foscue produced the 3rd-highest on-base percentage (.395), 4th-highest batting average (.324), and 4th-highest OPS (.981) off southpaws in the A.L. (min. 150 PA) last season. He was also utilized 41 times as a pinch hitter with a .306/.390/.444/.835 (11-36) slash in those spots, recording the 2nd-highest batting average for any Rangers pinch hitter in a single season since at least 1974 (min. 30 AB); only Bill Stein (.364 in 1982) had a higher mark.
In addition to the award selections by the DFW BBWAA chapter, the Rangers organization has selected the following honorees for yearly awards:
2026 Jim Sundberg Community Achievement Award – Jake Burger: The 30-year-old Burger was named 2026 Players Trust Philanthropist of the Year by the Major League Baseball Players Association and was the Rangers’ nominee for the 2026 Roberto Clemente Award for his community-focused efforts this year. He raised over $150,000 through the Burger Family Foundation’s ‘Down Syndrome is Cool’ merchandise initiative and underwrote seven food distributions at the Texas Rangers Youth Academy in West Dallas, among other charitable undertakings. The club’s leader in 2026 with 28 home runs and 90 RBI, Burger appeared in a career-high 155 of Texas’ 162 games and accrued 2.0 WAR (BB-Ref).
2027 Mark Holtz Alumni Award – Elvis Andrus: Andrus completed his second season with the Rangers Sports Network broadcast team as the unit’s most frequent pregame and postgame analyst. With RSN, he helped raise funds for the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation as a 50/50 Raffle sales volunteer and highlighted behind-the-scenes, in-game events at Globe Life Field, including operating a TV camera, dancing with the Six Shooters, and running the Dot Race. Andrus also continued to be a visible presence in the community, representing the club at the George W. Bush Presidential Center’s Texas Rangers Day in March and at National Miracle League All-Star Weekend in October. A 2025 inductee to the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame, Andrus spent 12 of his 15 big-league seasons with the Rangers and remains the club’s all-time leader with 305 stolen bases and 46 postseason hits.
The 2026 Rangers awards recipients will be honored at a future date, to be announced.
– RANGERS –