Jack Leiter to face live hitters on Saturday

Leiter is aiming for roughly 40-45 pitches during his first rehab outing since undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies from his right ankle back in late June. There’s a decent chance he’s ready to rejoin the Rangers’ rotation by late August or early September.

Nothing has changed in the prognosis for the 26-year-old hurler who is inching closer to a minor league rehab assignment. This was done as a procedural move to clear a spot on the club’s 40-man roster for the addition of Jonah Bride on Sunday.

Leiter told reporters afterwards that he feels ready for a rehab assignment. The 26-year-old has been on the shelf working his way back from surgery to remove loose bodies from his right ankle in late June. There’s a decent chance he’s back in the Rangers’ rotation by late August.

Leiter had loose bodies removed from his ankle a month ago. If all goes well, he could rejoin the Rangers rotation for the final month of the season.

The surgery was performed at Duke University by Dr. Ned Amendola. It comes after Leiter was placed on the injured list with a right ankle impingement prior to Sunday’s game. The Rangers expect Leiter to return before the end of 2026, but Kennedi Landry of MLB.com calls Leiter’s timeline “fluid.” Fantasy managers should be looking for replacements, if they haven’t done so already.

It’s unclear how much time Leiter is going to miss, but fantasy managers shouldn’t anticipate a lengthy absence given the nature of the injury. There should be a definitive return timeline once he’s able to resume throwing. The 26-year-old was scheduled to face the Marlins on Tuesday in his next start. He was hit hard in his last couple outings, posting a bloated 9.88 ERA across 13 2/3 innings over three starts since June 6. No word yet on how the Rangers will fill his rotation spot.

Leiter should be a whole lot better than this, especially while getting to pitch at Globe Life Field half of the time, but his ERA is up to 5.29 at the moment. In his three turns in June, he’s struck out a total of nine batters and given up five homers in 13 2/3 innings. He was actually 14th in the majors with 74 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings following his May 31 start. Leiter does have options left, but the Rangers don’t have any Triple-A pitchers worth trying in his place and neither Cody Bradford nor Jordan Montgomery is going to be ready prior to the second half. Leiter figures to face the Marlins next week.

Leiter ran into trouble early in this one. After walking the first batter of the game, Cedanne Rafaela would later reach on a fielder’s choice and then come around to score on a sacrifice fly by Wilyer Abreu. Willson Contreras would hit a solo homer in the next at-bat to put the Red Sox up 2-1. Leiter would settle in to pitch three straight scoreless frames after that, but surrendered four more runs in the fifth inning. Leiter’s night would end after that, as the Red Sox did enough to spoil what was otherwise a decent outing for the righty. Leiter has now allowed five earned runs in back-to-back games and has struggled to get through the fifth inning in both of those starts. We’ll see if he can turn it around in his next start, which is scheduled for Thursday against the Twins.

Leiter got off to a good start, stranding one baserunner over three scoreless innings. He then served up a solo homer to José Ramírez. Things then completely fell apart in the fifth. Brayan Rocchio took him deep for a solo homer. Leiter then gave up three more runs on a walk and three straight hits. His day would be done with two outs in the inning at 92 pitches. He struck out two. The 26-year-old right-hander will take a 4.69 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and a 76/31 K/BB ratio across 71 innings into a start against the Red Sox in Boston on Friday.

Leiter struck out 10 for the second time this month and the fourth time in his career. He still hasn’t topped that figure, but he probably will at some point before season’s end. Leiter got the win, making him 3-4 with a 4.34 ERA. He’s tied for 14th in the majors with his 74 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings. He’s a decent option in mixed leagues in another home start against Cleveland next weekend.