Right-hander Jakob Junis has agreed to a one-year, $4 million deal with the Rangers, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The club has not confirmed the deal.
Junis entered free agency for the fourth time, but the first time after a season in which he did not make a start. The Guardians’ trust in Junis increased as the season progressed, and he rewarded them with 66 2/3 innings and a 2.97 ERA. After bringing a career 4.64 ERA into the 2024 season, Junis has excelled at run prevention, with a 2.83 ERA in 133 2/3 innings over the last two seasons.
Junis’ best pitch is his slider, and it accounts for nearly half of his pitches – 44.5 percent in 2025 and 45.2 percent in 2024. Batters managed just a .238 average against it last season, whiffing at it 31.4 percent of the time. It acts as a sweeper of sorts, with 12.4 inches of glove-side break that’s 7.8 inches more than average.
The shift in Junis’ repertoire in 2025 came with a dramatic increase in changeup usage, jumping to 20 percent from 8.7 in 2024. Cleveland pitching coach Carl Willis and the rest of the Guardians’ staff were proven correct in exploiting that pitch more often. Junis, a 33-year-old right-hander, got 15 strikeouts in 60 at-bats that ended in changeups and surrendered just three extra-base hits – and no home runs – while using it.
Junis’ harder stuff wasn’t quite as successful. Hitters carried a .353 average against his sinker and .625 slugging percentage against Junis’ four-seamer. He was adept at keeping the ball in the park, though, with just one home run allowed against each pitch.
Something to watch as Junis’ career progresses is his velocity – his four-seamer dropped to a 91.2 average velocity from 92.5 in 2024 and the sinker from 91.9 to 91.1. Junis reached 10 strikeouts per nine innings in 2023 but just 7.1 since.
