With the 2025 Texas Rangers season having come to an end, we shall be, over the course of the offseason, taking a look at every player who appeared in a major league game for the Texas Rangers in 2025.
Today we are looking at pitcher Jose Corniell.
It was a positive, encouraging season for Jose Corniell.
That is a strange to say about a guy with a 16.20 ERA, I know. Even stranger when that 16.20 ERA came in one appearance where he recorded five outs. Or, I guess, maybe not…if he had accumulated, say, 10 innings and allowed 24 runs (18 of them earned) that would probably be less encouraging than going 1.2 innings and allowed four runs, three of them earned.
Still, all things considered, Corniell just getting to the big leagues in 2025 was an accomplishment. And the overall body of work suggests there’s more to come from the 22 year old righthander.
Wait, 22? Seriously? Let me go double-check on that…
Okay, yes, I have double-checked, and that is correct. Corniell is just 22 years old. He turns 23 in June.
Its weird because it feels like he’s been around long enough that he should be older than that. 24, maybe.
Corniell was signed by Seattle as part of their 2019 J-2 class, back when the J was for July, rather than January, and the 2 represented the date you could begin signing players, rather than just a carryover, a vestige of an earlier time. He never pitched for the M’s organization in an official game because the pandemic wiped out the minors in 2020, and he was sent to the Rangers in December, 2020, in exchange for Rafael Montero, who I only have a vague memory of ever playing for the Rangers. I associate Rafael Montero with the Astros, in much the same way I associate Jose Abreu with them, and may be soon associating Christian Walker with them.
Corniell was one of the more heralded members of the M’s 2019 international signing class, receiving a $630,000 signing bonus which appears to be the second highest bonus Seattle handed out that July. The Rangers that year gave Bayron Lora one of the largest bonuses of any international signee in 2019, with Maximo Acosta and Zion Bannister also being prominent signees, so, you know, didn’t get a lot of bang for their buck with the big money guys that year.
Anyway, Corniell toiled in the ACL in 2021 as a just-turned-18 year old and then low-A in 2022, where he was the fifth youngest player in the Carolina League on Opening Day. Both seasons were pretty meh, and he didn’t crack BA’s top 30 prospect list for the Rangers heading into 2021, 2022 or 2023.
2023, though, was his breakout year, as he put up a 2.92 ERA in 101 innings over 23 appearances between low-A and high-A, with 119 Ks against 31 walks. He was the team’s Nolan Ryan Pitcher of the Year for 2023 and was added to the 40 man roster, then, because the Nolan Ryan Pitcher of the Year Award seems to be cursed, he had elbow issues that sidelined him at the start of 2024. He ultimately required Tommy John surgery, costing him the entirety of 2024 and half of 2025.
Corniell’s return in 2025 was impressive, however. After four rehab appearances for the ACL Rangers, he made six appearances for Frisco and was dominant, allowing one earned and one unearned run in 20 innings, striking out 20 batters and walking just one. That earned him a promotion to Round Rock, where he allowed five runs in 12.1 innings over three appearances, walking 6 and striking out 14.
Which led to Corniell getting called up to the big leagues for the final series of the 2025 season. After not appearing in the first two games of the series, he was summoned in the bottom of the eighth of Game 162 with the score tied at 5, one out, and the go-ahead run on second.
Corniell got the first major league batter he faced on a K swinging. He got the second major league batter he faced on a fly out. Now, those two batters were Daniel Schneemann and C.J. Kayfus, but still, they count as major leaguers.
After the Rangers went down in order in the top of the ninth, Corniell kept the Guardians off the board in the bottom of the ninth. A Rowdy Tellez three run homer in the top of the tenth made it an 8-5 game, and it looked like Jose Corniell would get a win in his major league debut, a win that would allow the Rangers to finish the season with a winning record, at 82-80.
As a side note, current Ranger Zak Kent gave up that Tellez homer. Kent came into the game in relief of former Ranger Kolby Allard, who came into the game in relief of former Ranger Matt Festa.
Anyway, the happy ending didn’t happen. Corniell gave up a double, a walk, and then a walk off homer. Instead of a W in his first major league game, he picked up the L.
How disappointing.
Still, this appears to be the beginning, rather than the end, for Corniell. He will likely start the season at AAA, and while his workload will need to be managed, much like Kumar Rocker last year in his return to action after Tommy John surgery, he will have the opportunity to contribute at the major league level in 2026 if he performs.
The Rangers optioned Corniell in both 2024 and 2025, rather than putting him on the 60 day injured list, but he should qualify for a fourth option, so 2026 shouldn’t be his final option year. Hopefully, though, that won’t be an issue either way — hopefully, Corniell continues to build on his success, and puts himself in a position to be a member of the 2027 Opening Day pitching staff.
Previously:
