Rangers should be concerned by Jack Leiter's latest rehab outing

It's been a frustrating season for Jack Leiter, who the Texas Rangers were hoping would build off his promising 2025 campaign and become the pitcher they were hoping for when they selected him second overall in the 2021 draft. Instead, 2026 has been full of disappointment.

Outside of a few brief flashes, Leiter struggled mightily this season. Through 15 starts, he tossed 80 innings to the tune of a 5.29 ERA, giving up a .253 batting average against and surrendering 1.58 homers per nine innings.

Then came word of his ankle injury and the fact that he had been pitching through it for most of the season. It seemed as if that could explain everything. Leiter underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his right ankle in late June. Now he's on the comeback trail, but things may have it a concerning snag.

Texas wanted to keep its options open with Leiter at the start of his rehab assignment, and at first, they worked him as a starter. The plan now, though, seems to be to bring him back as a reliever. The last couple of bad starts notwithstanding, the bullpen is where the Rangers need the most help, so that makes sense.

But in order for it to actually benefit the team, Leiter has to perform well, and the early indications from his time rehabbing in both Frisco and Round Rock don't seem like a guarantee.

Jack Leiter's rehab assigment is proving that the Rangers right-hander is still suffering from the same ills

Rehab assignment numbers aren't the be-all, end-all, but one would like to see some positive progression before a player is brought back to the big league club. On the one hand, pitchers are still knocking off rust and rebuilding arm strength, but on the other, they're also taking on inferior competition.

Ideally, they should get better and better the more times they throw after healing; the better they should get. The opposite has happened for Leiter.

After getting the start in his first outing in Round Rock on August 13, the 26-year-old showed positive results. He threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings while striking out three and allowing one hit and one walk. On August 20, the Rangers sent him to Frisco to make another start and watched him give up four earned runs while striking out five over three innings. The two walks and one homer he allowed were reminiscent of his pre-injury big league performance.

Finally, on August 26, we saw what Leiter could do out of the bullpen for the first time. Arguably, this was his worst showing, surrendering three earned runs on three hits and a hit batter, while striking out just one in one inning of work.

Leiter now has a 9.45 ERA during his rehab stint, and it's unclear if Texas will recall him now or make him throw one more time in the minors. The two things that should be raising alarm bells are the fact that the same issues have persisted, potentially leaving the door open for us to find that the injury had no effect at all on his struggles earlier in the year. On top of that, not every starter can seamlessly transition to the bullpen, and we might be seeing that here with his most recent appearance.

The Rangers are scuffling right now, and though the division hasn't slipped out of reach (yet), they could use a spark, any spark, to really get going. There was some hope that Jack Leiter could be that catalyst, but the way things are going, it's unclear if they should even bother recalling him from the minors.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow