The Texas Rangers had a strong opening to the 2026 campaign, winning four games, two against the Philadelphia Phillies and two against the Baltimore Orioles, bringing them to a 4-2 record. The pitching staff is the greatest strength of this franchise, especially with the offseason additions.
But one player who was on the roster to begin 2025 and wasn’t an offseason addition to boost the rotation was Jack Leiter. This season proves to be pivotal to Leiter, especially following a 2025 campaign where he posted an ERA of 3.86 across 29 games.
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Continuing his spring training success into his first start of the season against the Orioles, Leiter turned several heads, including MLB.com’s Brent Maguire.
Leiter Highlighted by MLB Columnist for 1st 2026 Start
Texas Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter (22) during a spring training game at Tempe Diablo Stadium. | Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images
Maguire listed the Rangers starter as one of 12 pitchers who impressed in their 2026 debuts. Leiter could become a not-so-secret weapon for Texas this season if he can perform as he did against Baltimore more often than he doesn’t.
“Most encouraging, perhaps, is that four of Leiter’s top strikeout games have all come within his last eight starts dating back to late August of last season. The son of 19-year veteran Al Leiter also generated 21 whiffs, the most in a start in his career,” Maguire wrote.
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This season marks, hopefully, Leiter’s second full season in Major League Baseball, and he couldn’t be more encouraged by his performance in his first outing of the season. Primarily thanks to his cutter, which he got some help with throwing from Boston Red Sox’s Garrett Crochet.
“I asked him how he throws his cutter, and it’s different from any cutter grip I’ve ever seen,” Leiter said. “I tried it the next day playing catch, and it did what a cutter is supposed to do, and I was like, ‘It’s nice when a pitch grip comes easy.”
Texas Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter (22) throws in the second inning during a spring training game. | Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images
Leiter might not have used it as often in his first start, but it’s an encouraging pitch to keep close eyes on, depending on success. The Rangers starter also has a vast selection of veterans, from Jacob deGrom to Nathan Eovaldi to Mackenzie Gore, to ask about how to improve his game on the mound.
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In 92 pitches, 60 of them were strikes, 12 of them were strikes that were looked at. The only thing to improve on from his first outing of the season is to generate more ground balls, but that will come with time.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/rangers/onsi as This Underrated Texas Rangers Starter Is Standing Out Early in 2026.