Patrick Corbin wasn’t on Texas Rangers fans’ radars until well into spring training in 2025, but he’s become a consistent piece on the rotation so far this season.
Corbin was brought to Texas to provide pitching depth in the starting rotation, and he has done just that, even with short notice.
Here are 10 things to know about Corbin.
1. The basics
Rangers
Name: Patrick Alan Corbin
Born: July 19, 1989
Ht.: 6-4 Wt.: 225 lb
Hometown: Clay, New York
College: Chipola College
Draft: 2nd round, 2009 (Los Angeles Angels)
2. Late to the party in Texas
As mentioned above, Corbin signed with the Rangers on March 18, 2025 when Texas’ starting rotation was hit with significant injuries to Jon Gray and Cody Bradford during spring training.
Corbin was brought in to eat innings for a Rangers rotation that needed depth in a bad way. He had the 15th most innings in baseball over the previous four seasons, albeit with ugly numbers.
Related:Patrick Corbin’s outing vs. Rockies the latest in his Texas Rangers renaissance
Through his first 10 starts with the Rangers, Corbin has been a pleasant surprise with a 3.71 ERA in 53 1/3 innings with 41 strikeouts and 18 walks. Even if he reverts to his previous struggles before coming to Texas, he has given the Rangers everything they could have asked for in his first couple of months with the team while Gray and Bradford are on the mend.
3. A historic win
Corbin was a part of the 2019 Nationals team that topped the Astros in the World Series.
He capped that season with as memorable a win as a major league pitcher could have, as he was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series when the Nationals beat the Astros in Houston.
Washington Nationals relief pitcher Patrick Corbin throws during the sixth inning of Game 7 of the baseball World Series against the Houston Astros Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019, in Houston.(Matt Slocum / AP)
Corbin pitched three scoreless, two-hit innings in relief of Max Scherzer in that Game 7. He entered the game in the sixth inning with Washington down 2-0, but the Nationals had a 4-2 lead when he finished his scoreless eighth inning, which put him in line for the historic win
In that playoff run, which is the only year Corbin has pitched in the playoffs, he had a 5.79 ERA in 23 1/3 innings. He appeared in eight games and made three starts for Washington during those playoffs.
4. Injury history
Corbin was set to be the Diamondbacks’ opening day starter in 2014, but he felt arm tightness during a spring training start.
It was later recealed he has an injury to his ulnar collateral ligament and, like many pitchers in modern baseball, Corbin underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the whole 2014 season. He returned to Arizona’s rotation on July 4, 2015.
5. Late bloomer
He didn’t join his Cicero-North Syracuse High School baseball team until his junior year, according to a story in The New York Post. Corbin’s friends ultimately convinced him to try out.
“It was the second day of tryouts and he showed up in the stretch line in jeans,” his high school coach Kevin Rockwell said. “I asked if he was a righty or a lefty and if he could hit. He said he couldn’t hit, but he was a lefty and could throw hard, ‘But I have no idea where it’s going.’ ”
In his senior year, he had an 8-0 record and allowed just 33 hits and 16 runs in 47 innings. Corbin finished his career with a 14-0 record and 139 strikeouts.
6. Got paid
Corbin hit free agency following a 2018 All-Star campaign with the Diamondbacks and cashed in big-time.
The Nationals signed Corbin, who was 29 years old at the time, to a six-year, $140 million contract ahead of the 2019 season.
7. Two-time All-Star
Corbin made two All-Star teams in his career, both during his time with the Diamondbacks.
In 2013, he was named a National League All-Star when he entered the All-Star break with an 11-1 record and 2.35 ERA in 19 starts. Corbin finished the year with a 14-8 record and 3.41 ERA in 32 starts.
He made the NL All-Star team again in 2018 when he headed into the All-Star break with a 6-4 record and 3.24 ERA in 20 starts. Corbin finished the season with an 11-7 record and 3.15 ERA in 33 starts.
8. Unique college journey
His grades in high school weren’t good enough to get him into a four-year college to play baseball. He ended up at Mohawk Valley Community College, located in Utica, New York.
Corbin played baseball and basketball his freshman year at Mohawk Valley. The summer after his freshman year, he caught scouts’ attention during summer ball.
That led him to Chipola College, which has one of the top junior college programs in the country. Corbin quit basketball and focused solely on baseball at his new school.
After a standout year at Chipola, he had signed a letter of intent with the University of Southern Mississippi, but opted to sign his first professional contract when the Angels drafted him with the 80th overall pick in the 2009 MLB draft.
9. Basketball was his first love
He was cut from a basketball team in seventh grade, so he avoided trying out for his high school teams until his junior year.
Corbin was a basketball standout at Cicero and played both sports during his one year at Mohawk Valley.
“He was a basketball junkie,” Mohawk Valley head coach Dave Warren said. “He wanted to play for Jim Boeheim. I think the tide turned toward baseball when he got here.
“He had a great year for us even though he was focused on basketball. We started indoor baseball in February, so he would show up in his basketball shorts and throw a bullpen [session].”
10. Struggles in Washington
Although he was a part of a World Series championship team in Washington in his first year, he turned into one of the worst contracts in baseball for most of his time with the Nationals.
From 2021-2024, the final four years of Corbin’s deal with the Nationals were ugly for any pitcher, let alone a pitcher on a contract that averaged over $23 million per year.
Among the 58 pitchers with at least 500 innings in those four years, he ranked last in ERA (5.71), losses (63), hits allowed (820) and WHIP (1.532). In that same timeframe, he led the major leagues in losses three times, led in hits allowed twice, led in earned runs allowed three times and led in home runs allowed once.
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