Patrick Corbin wasn’t even a Texas Ranger until mid-March, let alone a consistent contributor in the starting rotation.
That’s exactly what he has become after his latest quality start for Texas, allowing just three runs in six innings against the lowly Rockies.
While he has found a home in Texas, Corbin didn’t envision being without a team until well into spring training.
“Not ideal, it wasn’t in the plans for that,” Corbin said. “But like I said, I’m happy to be here. This is a great organization, winning team, a lot of good people here, I’m excited to be a part of it.”
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Despite less-than-ideal circumstances, he has ended up being key for the Rangers, who signed him when they were in desperate need of pitching depth after the injuries to Jon Gray and Cody Bradford.
“He’s done a terrific job since we’ve gotten him,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s really continuing where he finished off last year in the second half.”
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What stuck out about Wednesday’s outing was his nine strikeouts. It was the most punchouts tallied by Corbin in an outing since June 28, 2023 when he racked up nine strikeouts over seven scoreless innings for the Nationals.
To top it off, he registered six consecutive strikeouts in the fourth and fifth innings.
“Some quality pitches there,” Corbin said of his career-best six-straight strikeouts. “Good slider, swing-and-miss and was able to get ahead, get into some great counts.
“When you’re able to do that and you’re feeling good, like you’re locating everything, it’s great.”
He specifically mentioned his slider as a pitch he “wanted to get back” in his last bullpen.
He got his slider back to the tune of 10 whiffs against the Rockies with a 43% whiff rate, up from his 27.8% whiff rate on that pitch so far this season.
Corbin’s latest outing was his second consecutive quality start as he was the hard-luck loser last week against Detroit despite throwing seven innings of two-run ball.
His season ERA now sits at 3.35. It’s a far cry from his 5.62 mark in 2024 and is his best ERA through seven starts since 2018. Over his last six starts, Corbin sports a 2.94 ERA with 29 strikeouts and 11 walks over 33⅔ innings.
For a team that was in need of depth, he’s become a key cog in one of baseball’s best rotations.
“It’s great to build off each other,” Corbin said. “No one wants to be that weak link in there, you want to go out there and compete.
“You see somebody else go out there and dominate, you want to do the same.”
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