Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Bizarre Circumstance Nearly Kept Patrick Corbin From Making His Rangers Start

Spider-Man?

Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

It sounds like something out of a comic book: a mysterious bite, swelling that nearly kept him off the field, and then a dominant performance. But for Rangers pitcher Patrick Corbin, that was reality this week, and not just the punchline to a Spider-Man joke.

Patrick Corbin, Dirty 81mph Slider…and Sword. ⚔️

6th K thru 3. pic.twitter.com/NsAKL5ZXu3
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 17, 2025

Corbin took the mound on Wednesday night against the Angels and delivered one of his sharpest outings in years, throwing 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball to earn his first win with the Rangers. But what most fans didn’t know was that the start nearly didn’t happen at all.

“We weren’t even sure if he was going to pitch,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy admitted before Thursday’s game. “He had a bite. He could hardly walk when he came into the clubhouse. Some kind of venom got in there. Not sure if it was a spider or what. He was 50/50 on whether he would make the start or not.”

Corbin, who’s currently living at former teammate Max Scherzer’s house, said the trouble began on Monday, an off day, when he was outside playing with his kids. After heading inside to make dinner, he noticed something was off with his foot. By Wednesday morning, with his right foot still badly swollen, Corbin showed up at the park early for evaluation and treatment. “Something bit me, but I still don’t know what,” Corbin said. “They were able to kind of work it out and just kind of maintain it throughout the day. But it’s pretty sore still. It’s just kind of just something that’s really strange. I was just fortunate to get through yesterday, and I have some time to recover and be good to go.”

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Whatever bit him, it might’ve given him a bit of magic. Corbin was locked in from the first pitch, striking out six of the first 16 batters he faced, all in the first trip through the Angels’ lineup. That’s the most strikeouts he’s recorded first time through a batting order since August 3, 2021, when he fanned six Phillies. It also marked the first time since April 17, 2018, back when he was with the Diamondbacks, that Corbin faced 16 or fewer batters through five innings in a start.

That outing in 2018 was a one-hit shutout gem. Corbin, now in his 13th MLB season and a two-time All-Star, signed a one-year deal with Texas in March. Through two starts, he’s 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA.

Patrick Corbin

Rangers

Mohsin Baldiwala

mlb

Mohsin Baldiwala is a Master’s student in Journalism and freelance content producer who got hooked on baseball through Seinfeld’s hapless George Costanza. The same reason why he’s a Yankees fan. He writes about sports because he believes it can offer a brief escape from the world’s chaos. Even if that means enduring the heartbreak of the 2024 World Series.