After losing veteran pitching coach Mike Maddux to the Los Angeles Angels, the Texas Rangers needed to fill the significant hole he left, and they chose to do it from within by tapping for Jordan Tiegs for the position. 

It is a rapid escalation for Tiegs, who just finished his first season on the team’s major league staff as the bullpen coach. Now, he will be the leading voice for the likes of Texas aces Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi as both progress through the later stages of their careers. 

“This guy is really, really good,” new manager Skip Schumaker told MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry. “I know a lot of people don't know who he is, but the baseball industry, as far as the coaches and front offices, absolutely know who this guy is.”  

“Our players were really impacted in a positive way through Jordan. … I think Mike was huge in Jordan’s development. And Mike decided to move on; he's afforded to do that. That's part of the business. But luckily, we got Jordan.” 

For Tiegs, the familiarity he has with the personnel is an advantage. 

“I mean, I would argue we probably have one of the best one-two punches and one-two-three punches if you will,” Tiegs said about the rotation. “That’s always a great head start to have. Getting some familiarity with them last year was great, and I think that’s the biggest advantage we have.” 

“Myself, Dave Bush and obviously, we added Colby Suggs; us being around these guys, it’s not like we jumped ship to a new team and have new players to learn. So, it’s almost like it’s a head start where you have familiarity — and we have a lot of new faces in the bullpen — but in terms of the starting core, you have a head start because of that.” 

Familiarity will not only benefit Tiegs and his fellow coaches, but the players as well. In fact, Tiegs’ years-long presence within the organization is one of the biggest reasons he earned the promotion to pitching coach. 

“I had conversations with the young guys,” Schumaker said. “That was important to me to see what kind of relationship that he had with the young guys and with the older guys, too.” 

“It's not all about us, right? It's about what the player needs and wants and how they want to get better, and who they think can help them get better. I'm telling you his name was the No. 1 that was brought up.” 

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