Rangers southpaw forcing Bruce Bochy's hand to be part of rotation moving forward

The Texas Rangers might have found their ace in the hole regarding Jacob Latz becoming a permanent fixture in the team's rotation for at least the remainder of the regular season.

Latz shined again on Monday delivering 5 2/3 shutout innings against Major League Baseball's best team in the Milwaukee Brewers helping Texas secure a series opening 5-0 victory.

It has been much-needed down the stretch with the injuries to Jon Gray and Nathan Eovaldi. Latz has been providing 5-6 strong innings every fifth game and it begs Texas to consider where would Latz be most useful to end the year.

Tyler Mahle's upcoming return complicates Latz's usage

On Monday, it was revealed that Tyler Mahle should be making his return to the Rangers' rotation as early as this weekend during their series against the New York Mets in Queens.

Mahle showed sharp results in his two rehab assignments in Triple-A Round Rock and will be a huge lift for the team in their final 17 games of the season. But that does pose a challenge in how Bruce Bochy will structure his rotation.

A lot of people can look at Latz's body of work this season and justify guaranteeing him a spot in the rotation for the remainder of the year, regardless of Mahle's return. And it makes sense because even with the rehab starts from Mahle, I don't think he's at starter level usage immediately upon his return.

This could mean using Latz and Mahle to piggy back off each other. Bochy is no stranger to that method, having used it multiple times in 2023 and 2024 to help ease the workload of his pitchers or navigate injuries where he was spot starting long relievers.

Rangers still might have found a fixture in their 2026 rotation with Latz

Up until this season, Latz only made one career start among his 50 big league appearances. The Rangers 2017 fifth-round pick, Latz is 1-0 with a 2.73 ERA with 24 strikeouts and 11 walks in his 29 2/3 innings of work as a starter this season.

He is not an overpowering pitcher, averaging only 94 mph on his fastball, which is about middle of the pack in Major League Baseball this season. But he is able to generate a lot of whiffs (30.1%) and his slider only has a .183 opponent average against.

This is an intriguing revelation for the Rangers for the years to come as Mahle and Gray are set to be free agents at season's end and they are looking for someone to pair with Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Jack Leiter and potentially Cody Bradford.

Lefty pitchers are also heavily desired and regardless of how Texas decides to use Latz in 2026 (bullpen or rotation) he has shown that he is a valuable place in Arlington for the future.