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New Rangers Reliever Possesses Elite Trait That Impresses Manager

Originally posted on Texas Rangers on SI
By Matt Postins | Last updated Feb 14, 2026 1:45 PM ET

For the first 10 days of spring training, the only thing teams must go on is what players do in workouts. There are no games upon which to draw conclusions.

So, when it comes to players that weren’t in the organization the previous year, coaching staffs and front office personnel from teams like the Texas Rangers take what they see in those workouts with some perspective. They may like what they see, but they want to see how successful it is in a game.

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That’s why the Rangers are being cautious in the buzz around reliever Alexis Díaz. He as more saves than anyone on the pitching staff but is coming off his worst season. Still, when he threw his latest bullpen, he impressed manager Skip Schumaker with one key trait.

The Alexis Díaz Trait That Impressed Skip Schumaker

What excited Schumaker? Something that few normal baseball fans pay attention to — extension.

“He's got elite extension,” Schumaker said. “I mean it felt like he was touching the grass with his foot. I mean it's it was crazy how far out he was getting. It feels like he was on top of the catcher when he was delivering the baseball.”

So how elite is it? On his Baseball Savant page his extension is the 100th percentile at 7.6 feet. It sounds like a small thing, but that sort of extension can trim down the distance the ball has to travel, thereby forcing hitters to make quicker decisions. Even a split second can help a pitcher like Díaz.

Schumaker indicated that he plans to lean into Robert Garcia and Chris Martin early in spring training when it comes to ninth inning work. That could translate to the regular season, too. But Texas committed a one-year deal to Díaz to give him a chance to bounce back from 2025.

He played for three different teams last year and finished with a 8.15 ERA in 18 games. He wasn’t hurt, aside from a short IL stint in April. Control was his issue. He was 60/40 between his four-seam fastball and his slider and his walk rate of 14.1% would have been among the worst had he pitched enough innings to qualify.

Texas sees potential in him. He’s a former All-Star who saved 37 games in 2023 and 28 more the following season. If he can reclaim that form with the Rangers, he could give the Rangers a triumvirate of options for the closer role.

Schumaker already knows what he needs to see from him in games.

“If he pounds the zone with that elite kind of fastball and then ripping the slider like he's capable of doing, you know throw it for a strike and then throw it for a chase pitch later in the count I think he's going to be really, really effective,” Schumaker said.

But, as he said later — he needs to see Díaz do it in a game. Those games start on Friday in Surprise, Ariz.

This article first appeared on Texas Rangers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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