Nabil Crismatt’s Value to Rangers Bullpen Hidden by Limited Opportunities

The Texas Rangers have another potential reliever that may fit last season’s profile for success, especially if he can pitch like he did in 2021 and 2022.

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Nabil Crismatt (61) delivers a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Oracle Park. | Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers continue to attempt to take low-risk, high-reward fliers to restock their bullpen with the reported agreement with Nabil Crismatt.

The agreement, first reported by El Extrabase’s Daniel Alvarez-Montes is a minor-league contract with an invitation to Major League camp. Crismatt’s work in spring training will be interesting to monitor as he has more than 200 innings in the Majors but is out of options. If he makes the opening-day roster that would require selecting his contract for the Major League roster.

To make that happen, Crismatt is going to have take advantage of the opportunity afforded him in spring training to show that his limited chances lately line up with the best seasons of his career.

About Nabil Crismatt

Arianna Grainey-Imagn Images

In 2021 he used a combination of his change-up and his curveball, which he threw a combination of 75% of the time, to go 3-1 with a 3.76 ERA in 45 games. He struck out 71 and walked 24 in 81.1 innings. That combination induced a chase rate of 31%, which was in the 80th percentile in the game, per Baseball Savant. His walk rate, his hard-hit rate and his ground-ball rate was in the 70% percentile or better.

That carried over into 2022, but he mixed more of his four-seam fastball in with is change-up. His chase rate was in the 83rd percentile and his ground-ball rate was in the 81st percentile. It turned into his best season, as he went 5-2 with a 2.94 ERA in 50 games, with 65 strikeouts and 22 walks in 67.1 innings.

But, since then, his lack of performance — and lack of opportunity — it’s hard to gauge where the 31-year-old right-hander fits for the Rangers in 2026.

He’s pitched in just 21 games and had a 4-3 record with a 4.67 ERA. He struck out 43 and walked 16 in 54 innings. But a dive into his Baseball Savant data reveals that while some of his metrics fell, the chase rate that he induced with his change-up didn’t fall, though he didn’t pitch enough innings to qualify.

The standard numbers in 2024 with the Los Angeles Dodgers and in 2025 with the Arizona Diamondbacks are solid. In 2024 he went 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA. In 2025 he went 3-0 with a 3.71 ERA. But he only pitched in 13 games.

He lost his place in the Majors in 2023 after his ERA soared to 8.31 in eight games with San Diego and Arizona. If Crismatt is able to prove that his limited performance the past two seasons can translate to a full season in 2026, he offers the Rangers a solid middle reliever on a budget.