DETROIT — When the Rangers signed Patrick Corbin in the final week of spring training, it was more desperation than anything else. After a spate of injuries, they latched onto Corbin, despite the highest ERA in baseball over the previous five seasons.
They didn’t ask for much. Just some innings.
But thanks to growing confidence in a cutter he alone cultivated last year, Corbin has given them both innings and performance.
Though he took the loss Friday while facing Detroit’s Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, he largely matched him pitch for pitch, albeit with completely different stuff. Corbin went a season-high seven innings, allowed just three hits and a pair of runs. He hadn’t gone at least seven innings with as few as two runs allowed since July 9. 2023, against the Rangers.
Related:Rangers’ starter Patrick Corbin impresses again, pitches Texas to first win in Sacramento
The cutter has played a prominent role. He throws it about 25% of the time to right-handed hitters and has held them to a .200/.286/.360/.646 slash line with it this season. On Friday, he threw it only 13 times, 12 of them to righties, but his continued growth with it makes it a constant threat and, therefore, it may be making his other pitches more effective against right-handers, too.
“I think the cutter usage and being smarter with pitch selection has really helped,” said Corbin, who has a 3.13 ERA in 31 innings over six starts this season. “I’ve always been good against lefties, but really needed to find something to get righties with more consistently. That was what I came up with.”
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