If there's been one positive attribute of the Rangers' rotation to this point of the season, it's health. Chris Young went into the year with five starters, and for the most part, all of them have remained healthy. Occasional missed starts popped up for different reasons but the situations got handled. Bullpen games, moving guys around, etc.
Everything changed on Tuesday when news broke of Jack Leiter getting ankle surgery. Something dating back to an April start vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates, Leiter will be down for a while. Early reports indicate an August return. A gut-wrenching development for one of the organization's bright spots.
Now, looking at this season, there is reason to be concerned about the rotation moving forward. The group, as a whole, has taken a step back in 2026. Losing one of the five when depth is already incredibly thin should sound alarm bells.
Not too many options are really available for the Rangers. And the ones that are do not bring too much inspiration.
A quick name to scratch off the list is Jacob Latz. His lone start of the year came in the opening series after losing the final spot in the rotation to Kumar Rocker. In the time since, he's turned into a fantastic late-inning guy for the Rangers. So, his highest pitch count since March 28 is 35 (twice). Texas cannot afford the time to stretch Latz out or lose him in the bullpen.
Jordan Montgomery serves as another flashy name. His rehab is underway, where... one inning was thrown in Frisco during his first appearance. Montgomery underwent Tommy John in May 2025 and is in the early stages of his on-field recovery. He is not going to be pitching in a Rangers uniform anytime soon.
Throw Cody Bradford in a similar boat to Montgomery.
The Rangers opted to throw Cal Quantrill out there on Tuesday night, which was originally Leiter's spot, giving up a run in two innings. Quantrill, technically, opened for Jose Corniell, which was not pretty. His 3.1 innings worked resulted in seven hits, two walks, and five runs. Command was not exactly great, having some rather large misses.
Corniell's MiLB numbers don't bring a ton of confidence either. An ERA over six in seven starts, walking 10 and striking out just 19 batters. He (or the combination of him and Quantrill) absolutely cannot be a long-term solution to replace Leiter.
And at the same time, it's tough to find another possible in-house avenue because of the thin Major League depth. Go look at what's happening in Round Rock. Everyone who has at least five starts sports an ERA 5.5o or above. Uh, yikes.
I never put this into writing but even before the Leiter injury, Young going after a starter at the trade deadline (assuming the Rangers were buyers) would not have surprised me. It's a larger discussion, mainly about this season's inconsistency across the board, even from Nathan Eovaldi. Rocker is a guy who might succeed out of the bullpen during late portions of the season and maybe even into the playoffs, opening a spot. Just a thought over the course of a few weeks.
Again, all of this was before Leiter went down for a month or two. The need for a middle/backend of the rotation guy, in my eyes, was there. However, this becomes even more true in present times.
So, what's the outside answer, if there is one? That's probably a different story. An answer is needed, though. The starting pitching has not been good enough to just bank on four guys and basically punt a game (from a pitching perspective) every fifth day.
Big, big time concerns for the Rangers in late June.
