Rangers Best Starting Pitcher Was Most Unexpected Surprise of 2026

The Texas Rangers rotation wasn’t quite as good as they hoped. But one pitcher lived up to the billing — even if he wasn’t a starter to begin with.

Texas Rangers pitcher Cal Quantrill (44) and catcher Austin Wynns (38). Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Texas Rangers entered the 2026 season with a respected 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation in Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi.

When the pair are on, they have Cy Young level stuff. They were expected to be the stalwarts of the rotation, with Texas surrounding them with three young capable arms in MacKenzie Gore, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker.

Nothing quite worked right. deGrom and Eovaldi both won double-digit games, but both had an ERA north of 4.00. deGrom had never had an ERA of 4.00 in a season. Eovaldi hadn’t had an ERA that high since 2019 with Boston.

Gore was good but never highly effective. Leiter spent half the season hurt. Rocker struggled at the beginning of most of his starts.

That’s why the Rangers’ best starter of 2026 was unexpected to say the least. He wasn’t even on the opening-day roster.

The Texas Rangers’ Best Starter of 2026

15 straight innings of shutout pitching for Cal Quantrill 👏 https://t.co/WzeAYUUrdI pic.twitter.com/Stj7n0WD9l

— Rangers Sports Network (@RangersSNtv) August 23, 2026

Yep, the Rangers’ best starting pitcher in 2026 was Cal Quantrill. He was signed to a minor league deal and invited to spring training as a backstop if Rocker or Jacob Latz were unable to win the No. 5 starting job. Rocker did and Latz moved to the bullpen. Quantrill accepted the option to Triple-A Round Rock.

He was back in April, but as a reliever. He proved effective in a bulk role and for two months he worked in that capacity until Leiter had to undergo surgery for an extraneous bone in his ankle. The Rangers hoped he would only miss a couple of months. He missed the rest of the season. Quantrill assumed his spot in the rotation and, eventually, became the staff’s most consistent starter.

For the season he went 9-5 with a 2.86 ERA. But of his 32 games, only 15 were starts. But in those 15 starts the Rangers went 10-7 and he went 6-5 with a 2.57 ERA. He struck out 62 and walked 15 in 80.2 innings.

In August he was terrific and was named the Rangers player of the month by the media. He was 2-2 with a 1.45 ERA with 29 strikeouts and four walks in 31 innings. By that point, he was more reliable than deGrom or Eovaldi, the latter of which was on the injured list with elbow inflammation.

In his last start against Toronto on Sept. 19 he suffered a right lat strain, ending his season. Texas would have only gotten one more start out of him. But considering the Rangers finished one game out of first place in the AL West, that missed start mattered a great deal.

Quantrill represented the best return on investment for the Rangers in 2026 as he emerged as their best starter in a most unexpected way.