SURPRISE, Ariz. — Now here’s a strange thing to say: All things considered, Jack Leiter probably would have preferred to spend the day in Houston on Friday.
But he found a way to make use of his time in Surprise anyway.
On the day he would have pitched against Brazil for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic had the Rangers and MLB been able to work out some insurance issues, Leiter instead threw 61 pitches in a 3⅔ innings against Seattle in a 5-1 loss. He spent the afternoon continuing to work on his changeup, a pitch that was a big factor in his success in his rookie season.
Leiter threw 10 changes on the afternoon, getting three swings and misses on the pitch, though Seattle’s Cole Young did homer on a changeup at the bottom of the zone.
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“The past week, I’ve worked on changeups, because my last outing, I only threw two of them, so it was a focus,” Leiter said. “I feel like I threw a lot of good ones, the home run pitch included. I think it was an executed changeup. Maybe that’s a pitch I don’t throw in season, in that count [1-1] to that hitter. But I’m happy to see the way the changeup looked and it was a better mix of pitches today.”
Leiter also threw five cutters, the “new” pitch he’s working on, and got a pair of called strikes with it, along with one ball in play. Leiter used five different pitches in his outing.
Other observations from Friday’s loss:
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Carter shows some pop: Evan Carter hit two balls hard that should continue to point as positive signs for him. He lined out in the first off lefty Kade Anderson at 102 mph and then homered to right center on a full-count off Seattle No. 6 starter Emerson Hancock. Four of the nine balls Carter has put in play this spring have left the bat at 102 mph or harder.
Future thorn in the Rangers’ side? Spring training results really don’t matter, but maybe the Rangers want to pay attention to yet another young Seattle hitter. Cole Young hit two homers on Friday and has three homers and five RBIs in five at-bats against the Rangers this spring. Young, 22, will be Seattle’s starting second baseman and he has hit the ball very hard in his two games against Texas. Last year, he went 5 for 22 (.227) against the Rangers as a rookie with three extra-base hits. As if Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez weren’t enough to worry about.
Canha makes a statement: On the day the Rangers brought in Andrew McCutchen to compete with him for an outfield/DH spot, Mark Canha made a statement in the outfield. He leaped above the wall in left to get to Carson Taylor’s drive in the fourth, but the ball popped out of his glove as he was coming down. Canha managed to grab it for the inning-ending out as he was tumbling to the warning track.
Twitter/X: @Evan_P_Grant
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