The son of a former Mets and Yankees pitcher will make his MLB debut this week.
Jack Leiter, the son of Al Leiter and a former No. 2 overall pick in 2021, was called up by the Texas Rangers and will make his big league debut on Thursday against the Detroit Tigers.
Leiter, who played his high school ball at Delbarton in New Jersey had been off to a strong start in Triple-A this season, which included striking out 10 batters on April 12 against Oklahoma City and he has recorded a 3.77 ERA in 14 ⅓ innings.
He’s struck out 25 batters in that time and walked three while surrendering four home runs in that span.
“He’s been throwing the ball very well down there,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told reporters, according to MLB.com. “What a great time to call him up because he’s been throwing well, and again, he’s earned this.
“I told him when he left [spring training] that we’re going to need him, and I loved the way he was throwing. I don’t think anybody thought we’d make the changes we’ve made already pretty early in the season [with Michael Lorenzen debuting Monday night]. But still, [Leiter] really came on at the end and was throwing strikes, the command, all that. I’m looking forward to watching him.”
The high draft pick in 2021 is the Raners’ No. 8 prospect, according to MLB.com.
Leiter had gotten off to a rocky start when he made the leap to the minor leagues following his college career at Vanderbilt and put up a 5.37 ERA in his first two seasons in Double-A before getting it together this year.
The Rangers made the call-up after Cody Bradford was placed on the injured list, which includes Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Tyler Mahle already.
It’s unclear how long Leiter will spend with the big league club and the Dallas Morning News suggested that it could be a one-start stint for Leiter and rain in the forecast for Wednesday could make that stay in the big leagues even shorter.