Surprising Reason Why Texas Rangers Veteran Nearly Missed Recent Start

This Texas Rangers pitcher won his first game of the season recently, but he nearly wasn’t able to pitch that night.

Apr 16, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Patrick Corbin (46) throws to the plate during the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Globe Life Field. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Baseball is full of unique injuries. Scroll through old transactions and one will find all kinds of oddities as to why players missed games or played through pain.

Hall-of-Fame leadoff man Rickey Henderson once suffered frostbite on his foot after falling asleep with an ice pack on it. Another Hall-of-Famer, Tom Glavine, broke a rib after throwing up. Slugger Glenallen Hill once fell through a glass table after he had a nightmare about spiders.

Spiders were a relevant part of Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy’s conversation with the media on Thursday, as DLLS Sports’ Jeff Wilson reported.

It turns out that Wednesday’s starting pitcher, Patrick Corbin, nearly didn’t start. Bochy said that before the game Corbin hobbled into the clubhouse after he was bitten on the foot by a spider. Fortunately, there are no glass tables in the Rangers’ clubhouse.

The Rangers said nothing leading up to first pitch as they waited to see if Corbin improved. Bochy said that at one point Corbin’s ability to start was 50/50. But the left-hander — who was making his first home start — improved enough to take the mound.

Corbin ended up with his first win of the season. He pitched 5.1 innings, giving up five hits, one earned run and one walk. He also struck out six and trimmed his ERA to 3.86. The Rangers were fortunate he was able to start as they really had no other option on stand-by, expect to run out a bullpen game.

He was making just his second start of the season after taking the loss in his debut against the Chicago Cubs last week. He pitched four innings in that game, giving up five hits, three earned runs and two walks.

Texas had hoped Corbin would make his season debut this week after a couple of starts in the minor leagues. But Jack Leiter’s blister forced him to the injured list after two starts and forced the Rangers to bring up Corbin a bit earlier.

The Rangers signed Corbin to a $1.1 million deal right before the end of spring training. The former Washington Nationals star was keeping up with a pitching regimen at his Florida home to stay stretched out. The Rangers signed him to help give the rotation depth as they deal with injuries to Jon Gray and Cody Bradford. Both are on the 60-day injured list.

Leiter could be activated this weekend, but it’s not clear if the Rangers will do so or send him for a rehab assignment. Texas has been clear that it signed Corbin to start, even with an unenviable track record. In his last five seasons with the Washington Nationals, he went 33-70 with a 5.62 ERA.

Texas wants him to make every fifth start and eat innings. Avoiding spider bites would be a bonus.