CLEVELAND — There are a ton of stats and numbers to validate Jack Leiter’s first full season in the majors, but really, all you need is the Cleveland Guardians.
A year ago, the Guardians humbled him.
On Friday, he finished off his 2025 season by dominating the hottest team in baseball, playing for a playoff berth, in a 7-3 win that guarantees the Rangers won’t have a losing season. And it was for the second time in a month he’d done it to Cleveland.
It gave him 10 wins and more than 150 innings as a rookie, nice round numbers to think about as heads into the offseason. And it seemed like a perfectly good time to ask Bruce Bochy if Leiter’s season had removed any and all doubts about him as a major league starter.
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He laughed. And then he stopped.
“At some point he’s going to be an ace on the staff,” Bochy said. “That’s how good I think he can be.”
He said more, but we may have missed it. We were too busy gathering our mandibles up off the floor. Bochy is always supportive of his players, but this was more than support. This was as close to anointing as he gets.
“You have four pitches like that,” Bochy added. “He’s got the velocity. The changeup. It’s been a huge pitch for him. He’s just learning how to harness it and be comfortable throwing any pitch.”
The numbers from his rookie season tell plenty of a story. He allowed two runs in the first, then shut Cleveland down through the seventh to cross over 150 innings to finish at 151⅔. He earned his 10th win. He joined a group of previous Ranger rookies to cross both those thresholds that included Yu Darvish in 2012, a guy named Chris Young in 2005, Kevin Brown in 1989 and both Edwin Correa and Bobby Witt in 1986. That takes care of the last 40 years. Of that group, only Brown at 3.35 had a lower ERA.
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Not bad work for a guy who last May didn’t make it out of the second inning against the Guardians, then didn’t see the big leagues for another three months and ended up mopping up his college teammate’s September starts.
“I think there are a lot of milestones personally that I was able to reach, proud of the progress, and kind of just hungry for more going into next year,” Leiter said. “I feel confident in my off season process and ability to improve and take what I’ve learned this year and use that momentum into the next year.
“I was excited for this game as I knew it would kind of feel like a playoff environment, and it’s a cool place to end. Even though our season is ending on Sunday, they’re obviously playing for a lot, and as a competitor, that’s something that you get excited for.”
There is a difference in how he handles excitement. Last year, Leiter was a nervous ball of sweat on the mound. He moved fast. He sweat a lot. And the results showed with fastballs sprayed all around the zone. That has changed.
But it’s hardly the only place in which he has improved. The addition of a “kick” changeup has given him a legitimate fourth pitch. He struggled to land it early on Friday, but returned to it late in the game and it was key in him striking out the side in the seventh. He threw it twice for Strike Three in the inning and once to go from an 0-1 count to 0-2. He had two 10-strikeout games this season, both against Cleveland against whom Leiter pitched seven shutout innings in August.
He’s steadily grown in how he processes information, much of which is testament to his teammate Nathan Eovaldi, who may be the perfect teammate for a student of the game like Leiter. And Leiter’s thirst for knowledge makes him a perfect fit for Eovaldi, who is willing to share.
“I don’t think you can say enough good things about him,” Leiter said. “He’s probably the best teammate I’ve ever had. He’s super thoughtful and always has the right thing to say. Technically, we have nothing to play for, but you have a lot to play for individually and as a team to go out strong. And I think he understands that. He’s ultra competitive. He wants us to win no matter what. So that’s just a small example of him helping me.”
All the help is great, but Leiter is still the one who must execute. And he has.
And he will go into this offseason a bona fide starter with perhaps bigger things to come.
“If I could go back and tell myself last year one thing, after extreme frustration and disappointment and knowing that I’m better than that, it would be just stick with it,” he said. “Keep going. Stay the course. Little things are big things.”
He paused a second.
“Oh, and throw more changeups.”
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