Rangers give former Mariners stalwart career lifeline in wake of Jack Leiter's injury

In an effort to improve their starting pitching depth, likely due to Jack Leiter landing on the injured list with a right ankle posterior impingement, the Texas Rangers have signed veteran left-handed starting pitcher Marco Gonzales to a minor-league deal, according to The Dallas Morning News' Evan Grant.

Gonzales, 34, didn't pitch in 2025 after undergoing flexor surgery in late 2024. He signed a minor-league deal with the San Diego Padres in the offseason. In 13 appearances with Triple-A El Paso this year, Gonzales, a 10-year MLB veteran, posted an awful 7.99 ERA over 47 1/3 innings, which led to the Padres releasing him last week.

It's unclear whether the Rangers plan to give Gonzales a chance with the big-league squad. With Leiter sidelined, the team has a hole in its rotation, so Gonzales could take over the vacancy soon if he can pitch well for Triple-A Round Rock. If another Rangers starter suffers an injury while Leiter is sidelined, then Gonzales will have an even greater chance of returning to the majors.

Gonzales may be a better bet for the Rangers than his Triple-A stats suggest

It's worth noting Gonzales had a .416 batting average on balls in play with San Diego's Triple-A squad, suggesting he may have been a bit unlucky. Additionally, he had a solid 7.6% walk rate and a decent 41.6% ground-ball rate. His 15.2% strikeout rate wasn't great, but he was never a high strikeout arm anyway. It's doubtful Gonzales will join the Rangers' rotation and save the team, but he could be a decent option to hold down the fort until Leiter returns.

After playing in parts of three seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals from 2014-17 (he missed 2016 due to injury), Gonzales pitched for the Seattle Mariners from 2017-23 before a short stint with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2024. In 926 2/3 career MLB innings, Gonzales has posted a 4.16 ERA with a 17.6% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate.

Gonzales relies on five pitches: a low-80s changeup, high-70s curveball, mid-80s cutter, high-80s/low-90s four-seamer and high-80s/low-90s sinker. Due to his low fastball velocity, Gonzales has relied heavily on his secondary pitches this season. His last two outings actually came against the Express. Gonzales threw 147 total pitches across those two outings. Of those 147 pitches, 48 were fastballs, 43 changeups, 29 cutters, 25 curveballs and two sinkers.

While Gonzales is a starter, the Rangers could also use him as a bullpen arm down the road. The fact that the left-hander can eat multiple innings could be valuable for Texas at some point, whether he makes a few starts or relief appearances.

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