Rangers' rookie pitcher on pace to have better season than these MLB veterans

The development of Jack Leiter has been a long road ever since he was drafted four years ago and on Saturday evening he might have just proven why the wait has been well worth it for the Texas Rangers.

Upon first arrival out of Vanderbilt, the 25-year-old right-hander has given the Rangers' organization a lot to prepare for and consider as Leiter's struggles continued throughout the minor leagues. He was dealing with command issues, lack of trust in his pitches and was giving up a lot of hard hits.

After a bumpy first stint with Texas in 2024, he's bounced back in a positive direction this year. After the best start of his career, seven shutout innings and a career-high 10 strikeouts in the Rangers' win over Cleveland.

Jack Leiter's development step in right direction for Rangers' future rotation

Going into the 2025 season there were a lot of questions surrounding Leiter. Does he begin the season in Triple-A? Does he join the Rangers' rotation? Does Texas end up trading him for a proven frontline starter?

Texas had to start him in the rotation at the beginning of the year due to spring training injuries from Cody Bradford and Jon Gray and since then have never looked back.

In 23 starts this year, Leiter is 8-7 with a 3.81 ERA, 111 strikeouts, 57 walks and a1.31 WHIP in 115 2/3 innings. Most impressively over his last 7 starts he's 3-1 with a 2.55 ERA and 42 strikeouts.

While Leiter still struggles with command and tries to overthrow pitches, this season is not only the most he's ever thrown in a year but also the most impactful in terms of development and outlook for what Texas hopes is a long career.

Leiter on track to have a better season than some award-winning veteran arms

While this might be more of an indication of how bad these pitchers have been this season, it also can show how good Leiter has been.

His 3.81 ERA currently ranks better than Justin Verlander, Dylan Cease, Sandy Alcantara, Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt, Luis Severino, Zac Gallen and MacKenzie Gore. That is a list consisting of All-Stars and Cy Young winners.

While Verlander is one of those players past his prime, the others are arms that were supposed to be some of the best pitchers in baseball. While they have Leiter bested in other statstical categories, it's nice to see the Rangers' rookie finding his stride.