Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter (71) Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Rangers' top pitching prospect has forgettable MLB debut

By Eric Smithling | Last updated 4/18/24

It started so promising.

Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2021 draft, made his long-awaited MLB debut on Thursday and struck out Tigers left fielder Riley Greene on three pitches to start the game.

Jack Leiter strikes out the first batter of his MLB career on three pitches pic.twitter.com/XmolB8p82d
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 18, 2024

However, the tide quickly turned against Leiter in the second inning as Detroit tagged him for four hits and four runs.

All Tigers in the 2nd #RepDetroit pic.twitter.com/bpjPopAlEC
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) April 18, 2024

He left a pair of sliders over the plate for easy hits and teed up fastballs for Tigers batters.

Leiter finished his MLB debut with 3.2 innings pitched, allowing eight hits, seven runs and as many walks (three) as strikeouts (three).

The 23-year-old was promoted after the Rangers placed left-hander Cody Bradford on the 15-day injured list with a low back strain. In Triple-A Round Rock, Leiter was 1-1 in three games (two starts), with a 3.77 earned run average (ERA) and 25 strikeouts to only three walks in 14.1 innings pitched.

Fortunately for the Rangers, they can move slowly with their highly-touted prospect. Bradford should return by the end of the month. He was off to an excellent start, leading Texas's starting rotation with a 1.40 ERA.

Overall, Rangers' starters have been among the league's best through 19 games, ranking fourth in ERA (3.25) entering Thursday, per FanGraphs.

Jacob deGrom (elbow) and Max Scherzer (back) loom as midseason additions, so Leiter's MLB debut will be long forgotten by the time the postseason race heats up in September.

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