Jack Leiter’s past start was the best one of his career. He faced off against the Cleveland Guardians and diced them up. He threw seven scoreless innings allowing a pair of singles while not walking a single batter and racking up a career high 10 strikeouts.
Jack Leiter’s Latest Start Shows His Growth
This is the upside that the Rangers saw in him when they drafted him second overall in 2021. However, he has not dominated the majors like this start. It has been far from a linear journey for Leiter when he debuted last year.
2024: First Taste of the Majors
After posting a 3.77 ERA with 3 walks compared to 25 strikeouts in 14.1 innings at Triple A. That earned him a promotion and his MLB debut would come against the Detroit Tigers on April 18, 2024. The start would not go well for Leiter as he allowed 7 runs on 8 hits with 3 walks while striking out 3 in 3.2 innings.
This would send him back to Triple A and he would dominate there. He would get another two starts at the MLB level in May trying to build on his strong Triple A starts. He faced the Athletics giving up 6 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits allowing 2 homers with no walks and 3 strikeouts in 4 innings.
His next start was the worst one at the big league level. He faced the Cleveland Guardians at home trying to settle down after last start. It didn’t go as planned as he got rocked not being able to last two innings. He allowed 6 runs on 3 hits with 3 walks and 1 strikeout in 1.2 innings.
Leiter would get sent down to Triple A after this start and would bounce between Round Rock and the Rangers for the rest of the year. He would be too good for the minors, but not good enough for the big leagues. There were fears that he would be a AAAA pitcher, which means too good for minors, but not good enough for MLB.
The biggest struggles for Leiter were his command and giving up home runs. He has nasty stuff, but he walks quite a few batters which leads to runs racking up against him. Most of the runs come from home runs from a pitch that misses its location. Another factor that affected him were his nerves as he got rattled when he put hitters on base.
2025: Starting to put it Together
Leiter was not expected to make the starting rotation out of Spring Training. That changed quickly with injuries to Cody Bradford and Jon Gray. His first start was against the Boston Red Sox and he flashed his upside. He allowed 1 run on 5 hits with 1 walk while striking out 4 in 5 innings.
His next start would build on this against the Reds. He threw 5 scoreless innings allowing 1 hit with no walks and 6 strikeouts. Unfornately, he would go on the IL with a blister. That would keep him out for three weeks, but he would be back at the end of April.
He was rusty coming off the injured list as he went 0-2 in his last three games. His line over that course was 12 runs in 13 innings with 10 walks compared to 8 strikeouts. His command was off that led to teams being patient and taking advantage of Leiter.
The rest of May was better with him going 2-0 in four games. He allowed 6 runs in 23.2 innings with 12 walks compared to 18 strikeouts. His command was still a bit shaky, but he was making it work.
June was a rough month for him. He went 0-3 with a 5.47 ERA allowing 15 runs with 5 homers in 24.2 innings allowing 5 homers with 22 strikeouts and 9 walks in games. July would be a better month with a 3-1 record and a 3.43 ERA giving up 8 runs with 2 homers in 21 innings with 13 walks and 25 strikeouts.
He had a better walk to strikeout ratio in June compared to July, but he was able to cut down the home runs in July to produce a better month.
August has been the best month of his career. He has posted a 1-1 record with a 2.70 ERA in 23.1 innings with 7 runs allowed giving up 3 homers while racking up 28 strikeouts compared to 12 walks. Only one team scored more than two runs in this stretch showing how good Leiter has been.
Outlook
It is a poetic that his best start of his career came against the team that he had his worst start against. Leiter has been a bright spot for the Rangers as he has slashed his ERA in half compared to last year. He posted a 8.83 ERA last year compared to a 3.81 ERA this year. He has improved in every aspect this year.
Leiter has been a big part of the Rangers this year and if he continues to build on this, then he will be a big part of the rotation for years to come.
Main Photo Credits: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
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