Rangers’ new pitching coach has track record needed to keep staff among MLB’s best

Last year the Texas Rangers pitching staff was among the best in Major League Baseball, highlighted by the brilliance of Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Jack Leiter. All being led by the man in charge, Mike Maddux.

Heading into 2026, the rotation won't look that much different but many believe they will regress. Mostly because it'll be tough to repeat success without their fearless leader in Maddux, who left this offseason to take over as the Los Angeles Angels' pitching coach.

Put in place to replace Maddux was Jordan Tiegs. A former pitcher himself, Tiegs began his coaching career at the collegiate ranks in 2011 and joined the Rangers in 2019. He was chosen by Skip Schumaker after consensus feedback from the pitchers about the necessity to keep Tiegs in this organization.

Tiegs earned the respect of players, learned from Maddux in 2025

There's no tougher task as a big league coach than to earn the respect of the players who trust you to make the right calls in the tough moments.

When Schumaker finalized his coaching staff in November, he spoke about the extensive process to find a suitable replacement for Maddux. In that search, he talked to staff members and the organization's pitchers. A common theme included keeping Jordan Tiegs in Arlington.

“It's about what the player needs and wants and how they want to get better and who do they think can help them get better,” Schumaker said. “I'm telling you his name was the one that was brought up [repeatedly].”

After staring his tenure with the Rangers as the teams Arizona League pitching coach, Tiegs served one season as Single-A Hickory's pitching coach, helping lead a pitching staff that included Cody Bradford and Cole Ragans.

Serving as the minor league pitching coordinator from 2022-24, Tiegs was promoted to the big league squad as the team's bullpen coach in 2025, working directly under Maddux. He helped lead a bullpen with zero closer to a 3.51 ERA and one of the most successful seasons in over a decade.

Tiegs also spent heavy effort in guiding Leiter to his 2025 turnaround as well as Jacob Latz's back-and-forth transition from rotation to bullpen and Cole Winn emergence as a leverage bullpen arm.

Not only that, he has the trust of veteran arms like Nathan Eovaldi who said his impact on those guys is extremley important in navigating the introduction to the big leagues.

Even General Manager Ross Fenstermaker knows Tiegs will be a popular coach and already sees his footprint across the organization.

“What makes Jordan so good is the ability to relate to and rely on multiple people who reside in very specialized spaces,” Fenstermaker said. “He integrates a lot of people. It really does take a village to help the pitchers achieve their potential. He pulls from so many disciplines to put together a plan.”