By the end of the 2026 season, Jacob Latz had established himself as the Texas Rangers closer. Not just for that season but for the future.
It was a startling development. Latz had been a little bit of everything in the Rangers organization. He had been a starter, and he had been a long reliever - but he had never been a closer.
In fact, as the 2025 season wrapped up Latz was invaluable as a swingman. He would start for injured starters and then easily slide back into his long relief role.
But as he arrived in Surprise, Ariz., in February, Latz had just one thing on his mind as he told MLB Network in an interview last week.
"My mind was purely focused on being a starting pitcher," Latz said. "Going off 2025 I finished the year with eight starts and a lot of them came at the end of the year. So, I felt I was getting prepared for that role."
As it turned out, he was preparing for something else.
The Rangers pitted Latz against Kumar Rocker for the final spot in the starting rotation. The two took their turns throughout February and March and it took until right before the season opener for the Rangers to decide that Rocker had done enough to be the fifth starter. All along, Texas kept an open spot in its bullpen for Latz should he not win the competition.
As one might imagine, it was a bitter pill to swallow for Latz, who began his minor league career as a starter and hoped that would be his role in the Majors.
"I took it with my head held high," Latz.
The Rangers valued Latz. That's why they left an open spot for him. But he wasn't the closer to start the season. The Rangers hoped either Robert Garcia or Chris Martin would take to the role. Neither did and both ended up injured by mid-April.
Tyler Alexander took a couple of save opportunities and converted. But it wasn't until late April when the Rangers gave Latz a turn at shutting down games. Turned out he was pretty good at it.
"We really let the role unfold on its own," Latz said. "I didn't really think when I didn't break as a starter that the ninth [inning] would be a possibility."
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker hesitated to say publicly Latz was the closer until the end of May. But by then, he was clearly the man. Latz finished the season 3-4 with a 2.13 ERA. He had 30 saves. He was named an All-Star for the first time.
Not a bad trajectory for a guy that went to Arizona hoping to be a starting pitcher.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/rangers/onsi as Why Becoming Rangers Closer Took All-Star Jacob Latz by Surprise .
