Flame-throwing righty projected to repeat success with breakout 2026 season

One of the most encouraging aspects of the second half of last season was watching Jack Leiter's progress on the mound. After a mixed bag before the All-Star break, he turned it on to finish seventh in the American League Rookie of the Year voting the rest of the way in 2025.

He showed that he is headed in the right direction and looks ready to elevate his game and improve on what is already premium stuff.

Leiter showed better pitch command and patience in 2025

Leiter, a former first-round pick, always had all the physical tools and electric stuff to dominate at the big league level but it was the emotional aspect of the game that was lagging as his career got underway.

Too often he would get ahead of hitters with his 97-99 mph fastball and plus-curve, only to end up falling behind and eventually walking them because he was trying to be too perfect with his strikeout pitches instead of just replicating the quality pitches that got him ahead in the count to begin with.

When he would not get borderline calls, he would stomp around the mound like he was being robbed by the ump instead of bearing down and being better with his next delivery, a-la teammates Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi. But as the season wore on, he stopped trying to fan every hitter and located better, even if that meant pitching to contact and letting his teammates in the field pick him up.

Leiter is ready to be a top MLB pitcher heading into 2026

Even as premier pitching coach Mike Maddux leaves Arlington for Anaheim and Jordan Tiegs takes over, MLB.com predicts 2026 to be a Leiter coming-out party as his trajectory points toward a breakout campaign.

As gifted as Leiter is physically, he has also shown the desire to be a sponge and soak up some of the smaller tricks of the trade from Cy Young caliber vets like deGrom and Eovaldi.

As he continues to master what it takes to be an efficient, professional pitcher and gains a bigger psychological edge on opposing hitters. There's no doubt that Rangers' fans have yet to see the best version of Leiter and that should make everyone excited to see him take the next step in 2026.