Grading Out Rangers Pitching Staff Which Led Majors in ERA in 2025

The Texas rotation may have been the best in franchise history. Three starters won at least 10 games. The starting staff had one of the best ERAs in baseball.

Jacob deGrom (12-8, 2.97) and Nathan Eovaldi (11-3, 1.73) led the rotation. deGrom made his stated goal of making 30 starts after recovering from Tommy John surgery and earned an All-Star Game berth. His performance did slide in late August and September. Eovaldi missed two months due to injuries but for a moment led all AL qualifiers in ERA. He had a strong season when healthy.

Youngster Jack Leiter (10-10, 3.86) emerged as a complement to the pair and had the best second half of any Rangers starter. Tyler Mahle (6-4, 2.18) had a great year but missed half the season due to shoulder fatigue in his first full year back after Tommy John recovery. Patrick Corbin (7-11, 4.40) was signed in March as back-fill after injuries and was sharp until the stretch run.

Texas traded for Merrill Kelly (3-3, 4.23) and he was up-and-down. Kumar Rocker (4-5, 5.74) struggled with control all year and ended the season at Triple-A Round Rock. Jacob Latz (2-0. 2.84) swing into the rotation as a spot starter and shined. He was a quality arm in the bullpen, too.

The Rangers put together a new bullpen, and it had a 3.62 ERA, the fifth-best rate in baseball.  Combined with the rotation, Texas’ overall ERA was the best in the Majors at 3.47. Hoby Milner (3-4, 3.84), Jacob Webb (5-4, 3.00), Cole Winn (0-1, 1.51) and Shawn Armstrong (4-3, 2.31) were the best of the bunch. Robert Garcia (4-8, 2.85) was the closer at one point, but Armstrong finished the season in the role.

That was the biggest weakness for the entire staff. The Rangers did not have effective way to shut the door late. Texas had one of the worst save conversion rates in baseball, blowing 29 saves (37 saves in 66 chances). Had Texas converted seven of those chances it would have made the playoffs.

With an effective closer the Rangers’ pitching staff would have gotten an A. But, without that effective ninth-inning high-leverage arm, the overall grade must drop by a letter.

Final Grade: B