Rangers fans need to stop pointlessly clamoring for a Patrick Corbin upgrade

If you were to take a poll of major league managers, an overwhelming majority of them would tell you that all they want out of a fifth starter is for them to hopefully get through five innings with a chance to win the game. The Texas Rangers have been getting that and much more from the much-maligned Patrick Corbin this season.

Corbin's career numbers aren't going to overwhelm you, with a career record of 105 wins and 131 losses, His ERA over 15 seasons is a pedestrian 4.49, and he certainly isn't going to wow you with his high 80s - low 90s velocity and loopy, off-speed approach to pitching, but so far this year, he has been very good for the Rangers despite the constant mumblings that the team needs to upgrade from him in that 5th slot.

Patrick Corbin has been a plus, not a minus for the Texas Rangers in 2025

Were not here to talk about Corbin's past (although he finished fifth in the NL Cy Young voting in 2018 - the year Jacob deGrom won his first). in 2025, the 35 year-old who is nearing the end of his career, has given the team 31.1 innings pitched allowing just 11 earned runs and has gone at least 5 innings in four of his six starts. He also has not allowed more than 3 earned runs in any game.

The Rangers' 2-1 loss to the an electric Tark Skubal and the Detroit Tigers was yet another microcosm of te team's season thus far. If the team could plate more runs, their record would be significantly better than 18-21 and the starting staff would have more wins to go with their impressive 3.39 team ERA.

Corbin wasn't the issue in the loss going up against reigning Cy Young winner Skubal and the AL Central leading Tigers who boast one of the leagues most productive offenses. He went 7 innings surrendering just 2 runs on 3 hits. He did surrender 4 walks, but home plate umpire Malachi Moore's strike zone was inconsistent to say the least and drew the ire of both teams at different points of the game.

Corbin could have gotten the win in the game for the same price had the offense not been utterly shut down by Skubal. It was just the latest in a line of Corbin starts that not only left the Rangers a chance to win, but was as impressive as what you would expect from any one of the trio of deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, and Tyler Mahle.

Folks out there who are looking at Corbin as the reason for the disappointing first 40 games are looking in the wrong place. The team is not going to find a low-priced pitcher available that will deliver an ERA of 3.13 and what could easily be 3 or more wins had he gotten any support from the offense. Give the man his due for coming into a new organization and doing his job very well.