ARLINGTON — Texas Rangers right-handed pitcher Jack Leiter is still relatively green, as his manager will remind anyone who broaches his progression, and is still an unfinished product with only one full big league season under his belt.
The next steps in that development were on display in his final spring start.
Leiter threw four shutout innings, struck out six batters, allowed two hits and walked none in Tuesday’s exhibition finale vs. the Kansas City Royals at Globe Life Field. He struck out the first two batters in both the first and third inning and allowed only a pair of singles to catcher Salvador Perez and right fielder Jac Caglianone.
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Most importantly, as it pertains to the next level that he can reach, Leiter threw 68% of his pitches for strikes in two-strike counts and averaged just 1.7 pitches in those situations vs. the Royals. Last season, when Leiter at times struggled to put batters away, he needed an average of 2.3 pitches to finish two-strike counts. It’s a small difference, but if Leiter were to average the same number of two-strike counts per start that he did last season (11.8) and be as efficient as he was Tuesday, it’d save him an extra seven pitches per game year over year.
Or, in far simpler terms, the 25-year-old can pitch deeper into games.
“He gets in trouble when he’s kind of nibbling, which he doesn’t want to, that’s just kind of what happens at times,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “He’s as good as anybody when he’s inside of the strike zone.”
Leiter, who will start the series opener against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday, threw first-pitch strikes to 10 of the 15 batters he faced. He struck out two of the five batters he fell behind.
“I feel really good about where the execution has been at as a whole,” Leiter said. “[I’m] kind of settling in nicely. I think it was 50-something pitches, so in a full leash type of game, I think that can be a pretty good one.”
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