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Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob Latz shows off his custom jacket ahead of the 2026 MLB All-Star Game in Philadelphia. (Bailey Orr / Texas Rangers)
PHILADELPHIA — This was supposed to be a story centered around the dichotomy of baseball’s hardest-working closer, the definition of a blue-collar dude, getting fitted for a fancy All-Star suit.
After all, no closer in baseball works harder than the Rangers’ Jacob Latz. He averages more outs per game (3.6) than any closer in the game. He’s got more two-inning saves than anybody in the game. And when you add in his four innings as a spot starter, he’s got the second-most innings among closers. It would be more appropriate if he was fitted for a lunch pail than a golden beige number from All-Star designer Tom Marchitelli of Gentleman’s Playbook.
Then, Latz, flashed the custom lining he had made for the red carpet walk and it was filled with pictures of his family that he’d hand-selected and his mom, Tricia, started to shed a tear.
So, it became a story about family.
Because as the Latz family group chat is named: “Family is everything.”
Jake named it that after a big wedding in 2016. It’s stuck. Because it’s appropriate. If there is anything that means more to Latz than being the best pitcher he can be, it’s his family.
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Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob Latz shows off his custom jacket ahead of the 2026 MLB All-Star Game in Philadelphia. (Bailey Orr / Texas Rangers)
“It’s just the perfect thing,” Tricia said Tuesday morning at a fitting in the All-Star hotel’s “beauty suite.” “It’s just perfect for the whole family coming together. We’ve been there for each other and been supportive through all the ups and downs.”
The whole design had been a surprise for his parents. Latz had seen some previous red carpet walks where players had an homage to their family sewn into their jacket linings.
READ MORE: A grenade in the bullpen? Rangers' Jacob Latz answers fans' questions at the All-Star Game
But, then, Latz went the extra mile. He didn’t just grab a couple of photos. Each of the nine — the maximum Marchitelli could fit onto the silk screen for printing — was from a specific moment in his baseball life with his family. After a little league game back in suburban Chicago. His early minor league career. After his MLB debut, with a friend group still so close they all traveled to Cleveland for that one-day callup in 2021 and to Philly for his All-Star debut Tuesday. Showing his World Series ring to his parents. With his dad, Jeff, on the field at Fenway Park a month ago.
“But,” Jeff said, shaking his head over the lining tribute, “that’s just who Jake is.”
On Tuesday, Latz’s entourage was full of family, including all three of his sisters — Amanda, Olivia and Elaina — and his two toddler nephews. All three of the other Latz kids and their parents have migrated from Chicago to the Dallas area in the last five years.
“They’ve just obviously been with me my whole life, and they knew early on that baseball was something I really wanted to do,” Latz told The Dallas Morning News. “They were hard on me when they needed to be. It was really just an outpouring of love and support.
READ MORE: Rangers' Jacob Latz is back in Philadelphia, but it's hardly where his All-Star year began
“Whatever it took for me to get here, they believed that I could do it, but they weren’t forceful about it. They kind of let my career unfold. They didn’t make me go train for endless hours or days. They just supported me and let me kind of instill my work ethic on my own. So what more could you ask for in parents? They’ve been model parents.”
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Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob Latz poses with his mother Tricia (left) and father Jeff (right) on the red carpet ahead of the 2026 MLB All-Star Game in Philadelphia. (Bailey Orr / Texas Rangers)
They have shared the journey with Latz from star high school pitcher to LSU pledge. They were shoulders to lean on when injuries mounted at LSU and he couldn’t find a home. They were there when he transferred to Kent State in hopes of getting a final year of showing out for scouts before the draft only to be there again when he was denied eligibility.
And they’ve been there for every step of a professional career full of stops and starts and injury rehabs. They’ve lived it along with him.
They were there on the day he was drafted. They were there when he made his pro debut. They were there in April, at Jacob’s request to celebrate his 30th birthday as a family. He flew them all out to Los Angeles where in his first appearance after turning 30, he allowed a walk-off homer to fellow All-Star Max Muncy ending his streak of 30 consecutive batters retired without a hit. And they met him after the game, unsure of what to say.
Jacob said it all. Told them he gave up his first hit and homer. So, he said, that’s over. We start fresh.
READ MORE: Who is Jacob Latz? 5 things to know about the Rangers' versatile All-Star closer
“That just told me so much about where he is,” Jeff said moments before Latz was introduced Tuesday evening. “So much maturity. He handles stuff better. He’s just figure out how to move on.”
He could, you might deduce, stand on his own.
He could. That’s just not Latz’s style. So on Tuesday, for the All-Star Game, Latz thought nothing could be more fitting to bring them with him to the red carpet. His parents accompanied him on the carpet.
“I think being able to share the moment with me is definitely going to be a proud moment for them,” Latz said. “But I get a lot of satisfaction out of it, too. I think it’s actually cool that I have haven’t started my own family yet and can share this one with them.”
Because for Jacob Latz, family is everything.
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