ARLINGTON — What creates baseball’s best starting rotation? Good question.
Two ace-caliber arms in Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi help. Two high-profile rookies that’ve shown flashes of upside in Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter do too. The veteran who signed late into spring training after a four-season stretch in which he was the league’s worst statistical starter is a must-have too.
Wait.
Run that last part past us one more time?
Rangers
Believe it. Rangers left-handed pitcher Patrick Corbin — a 36-year-old whom the club signed at the end of March to provide insurance and depth — has been an undeniable asset to a rotation that remains the league’s best more than halfway through the season.
“When I found out that they were interested in having me here I was excited,” said Corbin, whose 5.71 from 2021-24 with the Washington Nationals ranked dead-last leaguewide. “On paper, this team, it’s the whole package. To be a part of that is something we want to do.”
Related:Who is Patrick Corbin? 10 things to know about the Texas Rangers’ starting pitcher
Wednesday’s 2-1 win vs. the Athletics at Globe Life Field was further proof. Corbin pitched 5⅔ innings of one-run ball, struck out seven betters and exited a tie game in the fifth inning after just 69 pitches to help the Rangers secure a series sweep and a third-straight series win.
Only one of the five hits he allowed was classified as a hard hit. The lone run that he allowed in the sixth, on a Nick Kurtz double that scored Brent Rooker, might’ve been avoided had right fielder Adolis García made his throw to the cutoff man instead of second base.
Related:Vote for the best moments in Texas Rangers regular-season history here!
Corbin’s 3.78 ERA is the 18th-best among qualified American League starters and is his lowest through the first 19 starts of a season in seven years. His 0.6 WAR accumulated before Wednesday’s game, according to Baseball Reference, is the sixth-most among all Texas pitchers.
He’s been an unexpected key cog in a rotation whose 3.15 ERA is the best in baseball by a considerable amount.
“He hasn’t complained,” catcher Jonah Heim said. “He takes the ball and pitches until he gets taken out of the game. He doesn’t complain. That’s what you want as a teammate — guys that put it all on the line every game.”
Corbin has allowed two runs or fewer in 10 of his 19 starts this season and has allowed three or fewer in all but two of them. He has a 2.01 ERA in four July starts as the Rangers push through a critical stretch of their schedule with the trade deadline near.
“I love the competition part of it,” Corbin said. “The reason why I wanted to come here is to be in games like this and games that matter, and to be on a good team. It’s been fun so far and we have a long way to go.”
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