​Back in Spring Training, when Jacob Latz was battling for the Texas Rangers’ final starting rotation spot, you probably wouldn’t have imagined he would become the team’s closer, let alone win an award for it. And you would have been about right to think you were mistaken. On Friday morning, Latz was named the American League Reliever of the Month for June, the first Ranger to earn the league’s Reliever of the Month honor since MLB began presenting it in 2017.
In 12 June appearances, Latz went 11-for-11 in save opportunities and posted an ERA of 1.13 over 16 innings, allowing only six hits and four walks while striking out 19. He recorded a 0.63 WHIP and held opponents to a .133 batting average. Three times in June he earned saves of two innings or more, a pace that set him apart from every other pitcher in MLB for the month.
Latz’s 11 saves in June were two more than any other pitcher. He became one of just two American League relievers to reach 11 saves in a single month over the past three seasons. More remarkably, Latz joined a select group of AL pitchers since 1969 to post 11-or-more saves, 19-or-more strikeouts, six-or-fewer hits, and four-or-fewer walks in a single month. Among AL pitchers with 50 or more batters faced in June, he led the league in opponent OPS (.364) and ranked highly in several other categories, including OBP (.175, second), opponent average (third, .189), opponent slugging (third, .189), and hits per nine innings (third, 3.38). He also ranked highly in base runners allowed per nine innings (third, 5.63), WHIP (fourth), and fielding-independent pitching (10th, 2.32).
In Rangers history, Latz tied a franchise record for saves in a single month, matching Joe Nathan, who did it in June 2013. Nathan and Latz are the only Rangers pitchers to record 11 saves with no blown saves in a month. For the season, Latz owns a 1-1 record with 18 saves, a 1.71 ERA (8 earned runs over 42.0 innings), a 0.62 WHIP, a .120 opponent average (17-for-142), and 43 strikeouts in 33 games. He also leads the team with 1.9 Baseball Reference wins above replacement, the second-highest total among AL relievers this season. With this honor, Latz becomes the first Rangers player to win an MLB monthly award since right-hander Nathan Eovaldi was named AL Pitcher of the Month in July 2025.