The Texas Rangers have encountered a challenging stretch, posting a 1-9 record over their last ten games. While this string of losses might frustrate fans and players alike, a glimmer of hope emerged yesterday as one of the team’s top pitching prospects, Jack Leiter, made a return to the mound after his second stint on the development list.
Facing off against the Midland RockHounds, an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, Leiter showed some resilience and determination. Despite allowing a leadoff home run, Leiter quickly found his rhythm and settled down to deliver an impressive performance.
Leiter pitched three solid innings, allowing only one run on three hits while striking out four batters. His fastball, mostly sat at 95 mph but reached up to 96 mph.
However, perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Leiter’s outing was his control. Throughout the game, he issued zero walks. Walks have haunted him his whole professional career. Prior to this outing he had issued 43 walks in 65.1 innings pitched.
While the Texas Rangers have faced a challenging stretch of losses in their recent games, the return of Jack Leiter to the mound has given me a little bit of optimism to end the season. Especially when there had been reports that Leiter may not pitch again this season.
