Rangers reliever Jacob Latz was a major breakout star during the 2026 MLB season, going from a pitcher fighting for a rotation spot to an All-Star reliever.
As expected, the likes of Josh Hader, Mason Miller, and Cade Smith were among the top relievers in baseball this season. All three were proven commodities heading into the 2026 season. But one pitcher who was among that group of top relievers this season was Jacob Latz, who didn’t even start the year as a reliever.
Moved into a new role…
While Jacob Latz was a primary reliever during the 2025 season for the Texas Rangers, the left-hander did work often as either a multi-inning reliever or an outright starter. Out of Latz’s 33 appearances during that year, 15 of them resulted in him tossing at least three innings.
Aside from two short outings against the Marlins in September 2025, Latz was a starter over the final month.
Heading into camp, Latz had a shot at making the Rangers’ 2026 rotation. And he did, as Latz made one start, which came during Texas’ opening series of the year against the Phillies. The left-hander struck out three over four scoreless innings.
But he was quickly shuttled back into a relief role. Latz worked a few days later against the Orioles, starting what would be an All-Star season out of the Rangers’ bullpen.
…and thrived
The Rangers had trouble locking down the late innings and finding the right high-leverage reliever in 2025. Multiple options, including Phil Maton and Robert Garcia, emerged. Ultimately, Texas found that Shawn Armstrong could fit in that role and used him down the stretch in that role.
However, Armstrong re-joined the Guardians after his strong 2025 season during the winter. But it turns out that the answer was right in front of the Rangers.
Latz finished with 30 saves on the season, a 2.13 ERA, and 83 strikeouts over 72 innings.
The 2026 AL All-Star did a good job of limiting the walks and attacking, as his BB/9 of 2.88 ranked just outside the top 25% of relievers who worked in at least 35 games during this past season.
Additionally, his .207 opponents’ wOBA ranked second-best among all relievers. Only Astros closer Josh Hader (.180) had a better one.
Making the most of pitch mix
The swing-and-miss was up out of the bullpen.
While Latz saw a slight dip in Whiff% on his four-seam fastball, that had no effect on what he did in 2026. Latz came into the role with a real benefit: having four pitchers to trust and work with, which is not something a lot of relievers can say across the scene. But for those who do, pitching off the fastball is that much easier.
His changeup had a near-50% Whiff%; 48.4%, to be exact. That pitch, which sat in the mid-80s, plays well off a fastball that ticked up to 98 MPH out of the bullpen. Out of the 61 swings-and-misses induced by the changeup, nearly half (27) came right after Latz tossed a fastball. An additional 19 came right off the changeup itself.
The curveball, a low-80s offering, had a swing-and-miss rate of 39.3%.
It is worth noting that Latz was prone to the home run at point; while his HR/9 was among the top 50% for relievers in 2026, Latz was more towards the median than the top 1%.
The slider, in terms of Barrel%, went in the negative direction with respect to that metric. But given A) it had a 40.7% Whiff% and B) he was a full-time reliever, that jump shouldn’t be a shock.
Looking ahead
Heading into 2027, the Rangers will have to figure out what to do with that rotation. You would expect Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Kumar Rocker, and Cody Bradford as options for the rotation, plus others.
As for Latz, the Rangers found a good role for him.
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