Rangers pitching staff has the personnel to transform MacKenzie Gore into an ace

Despite parting ways this offseason with highly-regarded pitching coach Mike Maddux, the Texas Rangers are still in good shape coaching wise and player wise to shape newly-acquired left MacKenzie Gore into the star he was drafted to be.

Texas's new main pitching coach Jordan Tiegs is actually not new at all, after a track record in the Rangers' minor league system and a year under Maddux in 2025 when the rotation was one of the best in Major League Baseball.

But it goes beyond Tiegs, Dave Bush and coaching personnel, stretching to the impact his fellow rotation-mates and veteran bullpen arms could provide to him.

2 accomplished veteran arms play key role in Gore's development

There's no equivalent to getting first-hand knowledge and experience from your peers and for 23-year-old Gore, that comes in the form of Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi.

deGrom, a two-time Cy Young winner, is coming off an AL Comeback Player of the Year Award after his best season since 2019 with the New York Mets. He answered the call after years of injuries to start 30 games last year.

As for Eovadi, they don't call him "Big Game Nate" for nothing. He has a track record of success in the biggest moments, including being the first pitcher in big league history to go 5-0 in a single postseason during the Rangers 2023 World Series title run.

Combined, the two have 564 games at the big league level with 3,338 strikeouts and 67.9 career WAR spread out through 26 seasons. They have a Rookie of the Year, two Cy Youngs and seven All-Star selections among the two.

If there's anything to learn about being in the league and about the craft of pitching, I'd say two players in MLB Network's Top 100 players are the duo to lean on.

Gore's numbers might look bleek, but this staff can get make it better

Earlier we addressed Tiegs and his experience with Texas and learning under Maddux last season. While that all sounds good, some might still not be sure what he is capable of when it comes to being the main builder of pitching development.

To that, we bring Jack Letier to attention. Leiter, 25, just wrapped up his first full MLB season and made 29 starts across 151.2 innings of work. In those games he compiled a 10-10 record with a 3.86 ERA, 148 strikeouts, 67 walks and a 1.27 WHIP.

Looking at what Leiter did in 2024 compared to 2025 was miles better. Apparently, a lot of that has to do with Tiegs and the work he put in with Leiter prior to the 2025 season. Not just Leiter either, as Tiegs was helpful to former Ranger Cole Ragans during his time with Texas.

Texas traded a lot to get Gore, five prospects to be exact, and it has been viewed as an overpay on the part of Chris Young and the Rangers' front office. After being the third overall pick in the 2017 draft, and part of a couple high-value trades, Gore has yet to reach his true potential.

Across his four big league seasons, he has a career 4.15 ERA, has lost 41 games and struck out 589 hitters in 532.1 innings of work. Granted he did play three seasons with Washington but he also did lead all of MLB in wild pitches two straight years with (12, 2024; 14, 2025).

Still easy to count on him improving with Eovaldi and deGrom to lean on, as well as the track record Tiegs has at helping young arms hit next strides in their development.