The Rangers plan to promote Leiter from Double-A Frisco to Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.
With Frisco's season coming to an end, Leiter will move up to Round Rock for the final week of the minor-league campaign. According to Grant, Leiter isn't initially expected to be active for Round Rock, though he could still make his Triple-A debut later on in the week. Leiter ended his time at Frisco with a 5.07 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 110:47 K:BB across 81.2 innings.
... See More... See Less
Rangers' Jack Leiter: Strong effort in no-decision
Rotowire
Leiter allowed two runs on three hits and one walk while striking out nine over five innings for Double-A Frisco on Saturday.
Leiter submitted another strong performance since returning from the development list. In four starts since being reinstated, the right-hander has allowed six runs on 11 hits and four walks while striking out 25 over 16.1 innings.
... See More... See Less
Rangers' Jack Leiter: Another encouraging outing
Rotowire
Leiter allowed two runs on two hits and two walks while striking out five over five innings for Double-A Frisco on Saturday.
Leiter continued a nice run following his reinstatement from the development list. The 23-year-old allowed a two-run home run in the first inning but finished with 4.1 scoreless frames. In three starts since coming back to the RoughRiders, the right-hander has a 3.18 ERA, 16 strikeouts and three walks over 11.1 innings. Three starts are a small sample, so it's too soon to claim Leiter's control issues are behind him, but his performance is encouraging.
... See More... See Less
Rangers' Jack Leiter: Follows up with strong start
Rotowire
Leiter allowed one run on three hits and one walk while striking out seven over 3.1 innings for Double-A Frisco on Sunday.
Leiter made his second start since being reinstated from the developmental list, and it was another promising outing. The right-hander's fastball touched 99 mph, per R.J. Coyle of the Dallas Morning News. Most importantly, he's walked just one batter in 6.1 innings. The 23-year-old pitcher has struggled in pro ball since the moment he arrived with great fanfare as the second overall pick in 2021. Leiter has plateaued at Double-A, pitching to a 5.48 ERA with 100 walks in 164.1 innings over 39 appearances before being placed on the development list July 14 to work on mechanical adjustments.
... See More... See Less
Rangers' Jack Leiter: Shines in Double-A return
Rotowire
Leiter was reinstated from Double-A Frisco's development list Sunday and struck out four while allowing one run on three hits and no walks over three innings in the club's 8-2 win over Midland.
Leiter's appearance for Frisco was his first since July 7, as he had been deactivated coming out of the All-Star break, presumably to address some mechanical issues that had been plaguing him. He served up a home run in his return Sunday but otherwise did a good job of executing, as he spotted 32 of his 49 pitches for strikes.
... See More... See Less
Rangers' Jack Leiter: Returns to development list
Rotowire
The Rangers placed Leiter on the development list at Double-A Frisco on Friday, Jeff Wilson of RangersToday.com reports.
The organization says Leiter is fine physically, but it wants the right-hander to work on his mechanics after a pair of ugly starts with Frisco following his June 30 return from a prior stint on the development list. There is no timeline for his return this time around. Leiter has a 5.51 ERA and 1.51 WHIP with Frisco this season -- a disconcerting lack of progress for the 2021 second overall pick.
... See More... See Less
Rangers' Jack Leiter: Ugly results at Double-A
Rotowire
Leiter has given up 13 earned runs while walking five and striking out five in five innings across two starts since getting activated from the development list at Double-A Frisco on June 30.
Whatever Leiter was working on for 12 days in between starts, it didn't translate into immediate success in his return to the RoughRiders' rotation. Leiter's 2023 stats (5.51 ERA, 1.52 WHIP) are looking awfully similar to his 2022 numbers (5.54 ERA, 1.55 WHIP), and his name value and pedigree probably won't be able to prop up trade value anymore in dynasty leagues.
... See More... See Less
Rangers' Jack Leiter: Added to development list
Rotowire
The Rangers placed Leiter on the development list Friday, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.
The organization has temporarily removed Leiter from the Double-A Frisco rotation for what Grant described as a workload management plan. The right-hander has made 13 starts and thrown 60.1 innings this season; in 2022, Leiter threw 48.2 innings over his first 13 starts. It's unclear how much time he'll spend on the development list, but the club could sit Leiter until after the Texas League's midseason break. The league is off from July 10-13.
... See More... See Less
Rangers' Jack Leiter: Walks four Tuesday
Rotowire
Leiter allowed two runs on two hits and four walks while striking out seven over four innings for Double-A Frisco on Tuesday.
Leiter's coming off the best month of his career, having posted a 1.67 ERA over five starts during the month of May. The right-hander walked two or fewer in four of those starts. However, as seen Tuesday and in one May start in which he walked seven, the free pass remains an issue. Leiter has walked 5.6 batters per nine innings for the season.
Leiter (foot) will make his next scheduled start with Double-A Frisco, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.
Leiter had to be scratched from his last scheduled outing Sunday due to a sore foot which had been bothering him lately. However, the injury isn't expected to cause him to miss any more time. Leiter boasts a 1.71 ERA and 29:12 K:BB over 21 innings in May with Frisco.
... See More... See Less
Rangers' Jack Leiter: Scratched from Sunday's start
Rotowire
Leiter was scratched from Sunday's start at Double-A Frisco due to foot soreness, Jeff Wilson of RangersToday.com reports.
Leiter was dominant over four starts in May, posting a 1.71 ERA, 29:12 K:BB and 1.05 WHIP in 21 innings. However, he'll be unable to make his final scheduled start of the month. The 23-year-old is considered day-to-day for now, and he'll likely be able to make his next turn through the rotation.
... See More... See Less
Rangers' Jack Leiter: Posts first win
Rotowire
Leiter allowed three hits, two walks and hit a batter while striking out seven over six scoreless innings to pick up his first win in 2023 for Double-A Frisco on Friday.
This was Leiter's best start of the season and possibly his professional career. The first-round draft pick (second overall) in 2021 has battled command issues, walking north of five batters per nine innings over a season-plus in the minors. Texas general manager Chris Young told Kennedi Landry of MLB.com that the right-hander got ahead in counts and was able to land his breaking ball. After walking 14 over his first 16 innings this season, Leiter allowed just three free passes over his last 10 frames.
... See More... See Less
Rangers' Jack Leiter: Repeating Double-A level
Rotowire
Leiter will begin the 2023 season with Double-A Frisco, Levi Weaver of The Athletic reports.
Leiter was the second pick of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft and assigned to Double-A Frisco in his first professional campaign, but he struggled at that level to the tune of a 5.54 ERA and 1.55 WHIP over 92.2 innings. The right-hander certainly has the stuff to someday be a strong fantasy option, but there's obvious risk because of the lackluster command he displayed in 2022.
Leiter hit a batter and struck out one over a scoreless sixth inning in Tuesday's spring game against Colorado.
Leiter made his spring debut, throwing 10 pitches while sitting in the mid-90s with his fastball, according to Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News. It was Vanderbilt day for the Rangers, who deployed two former Commodores drafted in the first round, Leiter and Kumar Rocker, who pitched a scoreless eighth. Leiter went straight to Double-A Frisco in 2022 and didn't fare well through an inconsistent season. The right-hander told Kennedi Landry of MLB.com that last season's experience taught him about processes and routines, and Leiter believes he's learned from the volatile season.
Leiter has a 4.92 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and 107:50 K:BB through 89.2 innings for Double-A Frisco this year.
While Leiter has recently avoided the epic implosions that he suffered through several times earlier this year, he's simply been unable to get a handle on his control issues. The 22-year-old righty has walked three or more hitters in four of his last six starts, and he hasn't finished six innings since way back on May 7. On the bright side, he's done a good job keeping the ball in the yard, he's got a sharp 10.8 K/9, and there's some bad luck in his strand rate, so Leiter hasn't totally lost his prospect allure despite what's been a difficult season.
