Move Over Spider-Man – Patrick Corbin’s Mysterious Bite Powers His Win!

ARLINGTON — With great power comes great responsibility, and that applies to both superheroes and pitchers (Spider-Man – Patrick Corbin).

On Wednesday night, Rangers starting pitcher Patrick Corbin earned the win against the Angels, allowing only one run in 5 1/3 innings. But what almost went unnoticed was the fact that Corbin nearly didn’t even take the mound at all.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy shared before Thursday’s game, “We weren’t sure if he was going to pitch. He came in this morning barely able to walk. Something bit him, maybe a spider, who knows? He was 50/50 about making the start.”

Corbin, staying at his former teammate Max Scherzer’s house, explained that while playing outside with his kids on Monday during the team’s off day, he didn’t feel any issues. But later, when he went inside to cook dinner, he noticed his right foot was bothering him.

By Wednesday morning, his foot was so swollen that he arrived early at the ballpark to figure out what was wrong.

“Something bit me, but I still don’t know what,” Corbin said. “They worked on it, managed to get me through the day, but it’s still pretty sore. It’s one of those strange things. I was just lucky to get through yesterday and I’ll have some time to recover.”

Perhaps it was a spider bite that gave him superhuman strength, though. Corbin’s performance on Wednesday marked the first time since April 17, 2018, when he faced 16 or fewer batters through five innings — a one-hit shutout against the Giants as a Diamondback. All six of his strikeouts came on his first trip through the Angels’ lineup, his most Ks in that scenario since August 3, 2021, against the Phillies.

Corbin confirmed on Thursday that his foot is still sore but he’s optimistic with the right treatment he’ll be ready to pitch again soon.

“It was really bad this morning, just a swollen foot,” he said. “I wasn’t sure if I’d pitch, and my wife was really worried. But once I got out there, I just forgot about it and focused on competing. It’s something I’ve never experienced before, and I just hope it goes away. They’re doing everything they can, and I’ll listen to them and try to get it right.”