Jack Leiter's million dollar arm and dime-store results has Rangers fans incensed

Texas Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter has a ton of talent. He routinely hits 98 and 99 mph with his fastball and has some offspeed stuff that can keep even the best hitters off balance. Despite that, the man who looks like he could one day be an ace, doesn’t get great results.

That was true once again on Thursday afternoon as Leiter struggled to find the strike zone in his start against the Boston Redsox. In fact, his struggles in the rubber game of the series had Rangers fans frustrations boiling over.

Jack Leiter's million dollar arm and dime-store results has Rangers fans incensed

While Leiter had been limiting the hits allowed entering the 5th inning (things broke a bit there), the Rangers youngster was having all kinds of problems with his control. And that lack of control allowed Boston to take an early 2-0 lead. 

Things started going haywire in the first inning when Leiter hit Jarren Duran with a hit and followed that up with a walk to Rafael Devers. He managed to get out of the inning by retiring the next three batters, but unfortunately, didn’t get a control of his pitches.

In the bottom of the second, Leiter allowed a single to Trevor Story, then one batter later, balked to advance Story to second base. He then walked Carlos Narváez  and Ceddanne Rafaela back-to-back to load the bases.

With Durran batting again, Leiter threw a wild pitch that allowed a run to score and then Durran ground out to score a second run. With an offense that has returned to its struggling ways (0-for-15 with RISP in the last two games so far) Rangers fans were more than a little annoyed.

Jack Leiter continues to be one of those guys who is confounding because of his live arm. In the fifth inning, he allowed a ringing double and a single to make the score 3-0. While also looking like someone who should be able to mow through a murderer's row of a lineup.

His struggles are amplified because of the Texas Rangers' struggles overrall. But at some point, he's going to need to figure out a way to put it together, or fans will have officially had enough.