Jack Leiter pitched an inning out of the bullpen for the Triple-A Round Rock Express as he continues to work his way back from injury.
On Wednesday night, Texas Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter made another step towards his return as he completed his third minor-league rehab appearance.
Initially, Leiter was building up to return as a starter but Wednesday saw him make his first rehab appearance out of the bullpen.
Leiter threw one inning, allowing three runs on three hits without walking a batter while striking out one in the Express’ 9-4 loss to the Albuquerque Isotopes.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker recently called it a “50-50 chance” that Leiter would return to the big leagues as a reliever after the rehab process hasn’t gone as smoothly as planned.
Back in 2024, Leiter made three appearances out of the bullpen during his rookie season. Those remain his only career relief outings.
Whether or not Texas decides to pull the trigger on bringing Leiter back out of the bullpen will determine the next steps of his rehab process.
The decision comes at a time in which the Rangers as still without Nathan Eovaldi who won’t be able to even throw off a mound for another 10-12 days.
Having the success of Cal Quantrill and Cody Bradford in the rotation has certainly proven huge as the Texas starting pitching depth has been tested seemingly through the entire season.
Rangers starters have posted a 4.22 season ERA, good for 10th place in the American League. It certainly hasn’t been the dominate run the group went on last season but they’ve been able to keep the team in games and help keep them afloat in the postseason push.
As things stand on Thursday’s off-day, Texas sits just a half-game back of first place in the American League West and two games out of the AL’s final Wild Card spot.
On Friday, the Rangers will open a three-game series on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers, who hold the best record in baseball at 82-51.
Bradford, Quantrill, and Kumar Rocker are expected to start against the Brewers, in the first and only series matchup between the two teams this season.
Pulling off an upset series win would no doubt give Texas some massive momentum going into a huge homestand next week.
However, on the flip side, a tough weekend could see the Rangers dig themselves further in a hole as we approach the season’s final month.
After this weekend, Texas will have just 26 games left in the regular season.
