Leiter Jack Pitcher for the Texas Rangers
just signed his resignation papers after it was confirmed that…
18 April: Texas formally approved Leiter’s deal on Thursday morning. Grant Anderson was optioned to Triple-A by the Rangers in return. To free up a spot on the 40-man roster, they placed lefty reliever Brock Burke on the 60-day injured list. Burke broke his non-throwing hand last week, so he won’t be able to perform until at least the middle of June.
April 16: The Rangers announced this morning that their best pitching prospect, Jack Leiter, will be selected for the major league roster and will play his first game against the Tigers on Thursday. Texas, which has a full 40-man roster and took the right-hander with the second overall pick in the 2021 draft, will need to make a similar move to make room for him.
Three days after making his much-awaited debut, Leiter turns 24 and is receiving an early birthday present. The second-generation talent is the son of two-time World Series champion and two-time All-Star Al Leiter, the cousin of current Cubs setup man Mark Leiter Jr., and the nephew of 11-year MLB veteran Mark Leiter.
The fourth Leiter to reach the majors, Jack Leiter, hasn’t had an easy ride to the show despite his outstanding selection and prospect background. In his two seasons as a collegiate player at Vanderbilt, he dominated batters and struck out 41% of opponents before being picked. But he had command issues after being assigned to Double-A for an aggressive assignment right away.
Leiter had an ERA above 5.00 and walked more than 13% of opponents in his first two Double-A seasons. However, in his first three Triple-A appearances this season, Leiter has been a monster. In 14 1/3 innings, he has struck out 25 of his 57 opponents (43.9%), walked just three (5.3%), and allowed just 11 hits. Leiter’s 3.77 ERA is far less remarkable than his dominant K-BB profile would often suggest, as four of those have sadly departed the yard. Leiter’s walk and strikeout trends are encouraging despite this. This is especially interesting in light of the fact that Leiter pitched 12 2/3 innings for Texas in the spring and had a far higher walk rate (9.6%) in that short amount of time.
Texas’ rotation has been seriously harmed by injury worries.Jacob deGrom, who inked a five-year contract during the 2022–2023 offseason, had Tommy John surgery in June of last year and started the season on the 60-day injured list.Max Scherzer required off-season back surgery to address a bulging disc. He obtained a minimum of one trade deadline per year. Southpaw Cody Bradford, 26, was a godsend with three appearances under his belt to open the season (1.40 ERA). until he developed a lower back problem of his own and was prescribed a 15-day IL.
Leiter will assume command of a starting lineup that could alter. Veteran righty Michael Lorenzen made his Rangers debut yesterday, pitching five shutout frames against his former Tigers teammates (although with four strikeouts and five walks) after agreeing to a one-year deal late in spring training. Left-hander Andrew Heaney, who has a 6.75 ERA and hasn’t lasted five innings in any of his three starts, was scheduled to start on Thursday. Leiter seems to be going to stick with that stance, at least moving forward.
All of that points to Lorenzen, Leiter, Jon Gray, and Wednesday’s starter, Dane Dunning, being in the rotation at least initially. Leiter might be given more time off if he doesn’t perform well straight away, but it’s more probable that the Rangers want to give him multiple starts after promoting him to the majors. The team’s plans for their young righty will probably be further detailed in the coming days by general manager Chris Young or manager Bruce Bochy.
Leiter’s struggles in 2022–2023 were severe enough to remove him from the prospect rankings and void his eligibility for the MLB’s prospect promotion incentives. He won’t be able to finish his service time in full, and the Rangers won’t receive a draft pick for his Rookie of the Year vote since there isn’t enough time left on the clock. As things stand, he will be controllable through the 2030 campaign and is anticipated to develop into a Super Two, enabling him to participate in four arbitration hearings as opposed to the customary three. The first of those offseasons eligible for arbitration would be the winter of 2026–2027; however, additional optional assignments could potentially have an impact on his future eligibility for arbitration and free agency status.
