When the Seattle Seahawks took down the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60 last night, it only meant one thing…baseball is officially back.

The Texas Rangers will formally open Spring Training on Tuesday as pitchers and catchers will report to Surprise, Ariz.

Coming off a year in which the Rangers featured one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball, there is still plenty to watch for through the duration of camp.

Let’s break down three storylines to watch for as Rangers Spring Training finally gets underway in 2026.

1) Who Will Become the Fifth Starter? -- The first four starters in the Rangers' rotation seem all but set.

You have Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi forming one of the best 1-2 punches in all of Major League Baseball.

Following them, Texas went out and added All-Star MacKenzie Gore as the No. 3 and Jack Leiter following him at the No. 4 spot.

The setup leaves one spot open for grabs as the Rangers' “competition spot,” which appears to have two main candidates.

Jacob Latz and Kumar Rocker seem to be both vying for the fifth and final spot in the rotation. Both of them made several starts last year and appear to be pitchers the Rangers have confidence can become solid young starters.

2) Who Emerges as the Closer? -- We certainly won’t likely get an answer to this question in Spring Training, but one of the more interesting questions that first-year manager Skip Schumaker will have to answer early in 2026.

After never establishing a true closer in 2025 and blowing a lead, leading 29 saves as a result of it, things seem likely that Schumaker will look to establish someone in that role.

The Rangers have felt good about the progress new signing Alexis Diaz has made over the winter and feel they could help him progress to the All-Star closer he was just two years ago.

If he can’t win the job, then certainly the likes of Robert Garcia, Jakob Junis, or even Chris Martin could get a shot.

3) What Will the Catching Tandem Look Like? -- As was the case last year, the Rangers feel good about the catching duo they have.

After things didn’t work out with Jonah Heim in 2025, the Rangers brought in Danny Jansen to pair with Kyle Higashioka in what Texas feels like is a solid tandem.

One of the main questions early on will be which catcher can take the reins and become the 1A for Schumaker.

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