These Numbers Drove Cal Quantrill’s Resurgent Season with Rangers

Perhaps no free agent signing provided more value to the Texas Rangers than right-handed pitcher Cal Quantrill.

Signed to a minor league deal in the offseason and invited to Major League spring training, he was expected to be a back-up option for the rotation but didn’t make the opening-day roster. Texas promoted him in mid-April and losing two relievers to injury and Quantrill became a positive part of the bullpen.

Then, in June, starter Jack Leiter underwent surgery for his injured ankle and Quantrill move into the starting rotation. He was named the Rangers’ player of the month for August. At times, it seemed like he was more of an ace than the other pitchers in the rotation.

Unfortunately, a lat injury ended his season in the final week. Texas could have used one more start from him in a tight AL West race. He’s a free agent and he’s one the Rangers should try to keep. He proved why during the season as his career resurged based on these metrics.

Cal Quantrill’s One Big Statcast Number

Quantrill had some of the best value MLB percentile rankings among pitchers in 2026. Everything was in the red, particularly his pitching run value (16), which was in the 89th percentile, and his fastball run value (12), which was in the 88th percentile.

Those were huge jumps from 2025 — pitching run value (-18), which was in the 6th percentile and fastball run value (0), 40th percentile.

His 2026 breaking run value (3) was in the 72nd percentile and his offspeed run value (1) was in the 64th percentile, all noticeable jumps.

This makes sense given his raw numbers from 2025 to 2026. In 2025 he went 4-12 with a 6.04 ERA in 26 games with 85 strikeouts and 117.2 innings. In 2026 he went 9-5 with a 2.86 ERA in 32 games (some of which were in relief), as he had 81 strikeouts in 110 innings.

The interesting part is that when you look at his pitching percentile rankings there is only one that is bright red and that is his walk rate — 5.6%, which was in the 92nd percentile. Many of his other rankings were middle of the road. His chase rate, for example, was 30.1% and in the 47th percentile. His average exit velocity was 88.9 mph and in the 42nd percentile. His whiff rate was awful by percentile standards — 19.6% and in the 8th percentile.

This mixed bag of analytics worked because his top two pitches worked. He threw his sinker and his four-seam fastball a combined 49% of the time. Those two pitches were highly valuable, especially against right-handed hitters. The sinker was a plus-8 pitch run value against right-handers, and his four-seamer was a plus-5 in the same category. He threw those two pitches 56% of the time against right-handers.

Those pitches held their own against left-handers with a combined pitch run value of plus-4.

Quantrill proved to be a godsend to the Rangers pitching staff because he leaned on his best pitches, kept his walks low and avoided hard contact. It wasn’t dominating. But it was enough.