Jack Thomas Leiter…son of Al and Lori, and has three sisters: Lindsay, Carly and Katelyn…father, Al, pitched 19 seasons in Majors (1987-2005) before becoming a TV broadcaster and analyst in his post-playing career…uncle, Mark, had 11-year ML career as right-handed pitcher (1990-99; 2001)…cousin, Mark Jr., has seen MLB action with Philadelphia (2017-18), Toronto (2018), Chicago-NL (2022-24), and New York-AL (2024)…Jack’s MLB debut in April 2024, coupled with Mark Jr.’s career, made the duo’s fathers the first MLB brothers to each have a son appear in the big leagues…was selected by Texas in the first round (second overall) of the 2021 MLB Draft and formally signed with the Rangers on 7/28/21…signing scout was Derrick Turner…graduated from Vanderbilt with a degree in human and organizational development in Dec. of 2023... remains friends with former college teammate and now-Rangers teammate Kumar Rocker, calling him a “big teddy bear.”
2024
Rookie saw his first career MLB action, going 0-3 with a 8.83 ERA (35 ER/35.2 IP) and 31 SO/17 BB in 9 games/6 starts spanning five separate stints with Texas: 4/18, 5/8, 5/14, 8/28, 9/2-26…allowed multiple runs in eight of nine appearances as opponents batted .297/.374/.527/.901 (44-for-148) with 18 extra-base hits (7 HR, 2 3B, 9 2B)…fared better against left-handed batters (.270, 20-for-74) than right-handed batters (.324, 24-for-74)…had 10.41 ERA (27 ER/23.1 IP) in six starts compared to 5.84 ERA (8 ER/12.1 IP) in three relief appearances…threw his 4-seam fastball 51.9% of the time, by far his most-utilized offering (ahead of slider, 29.1%)… averaged 96.3 mph on his 4-seamer as a starter, the second-highest single-season mark by a Rangers starting pitcher in the Statcast era (min. 150 4-seam FB thrown) to only Jacob deGrom (98.7 mph) in 2023…made MLB debut on 4/18 at DET as the Rangers’ starting pitcher (ND, 3.2 IP, 8 H, 7 R-ER, 3 BB, 3 SO, 85 pitches/52 strikes)…on 9/2 vs. NYY, faced former Delbarton H.S. teammate Anthony Volpe, allowing a single and inducing a flyout in two PA…fanned career-high six batters in back-to-back appearances on 9/7 vs. LAA (start) and 9/14 at SEA (in relief)… on 9/7 vs. LAA, induced 20 swing-and-miss strikes, tied-fourth-most by a Rangers starter in ’24 (23-Eovaldi on 4/3 at TB, 22-Heaney on 8/21 vs. PIT, 21-Eovaldi on 4/9 vs. OAK)…this included 12 whiffs on his 4-seam fastball, tied-second most by a TEX SP in a game in ’24 to only Heaney (14) on 5/11 at COL…at 24 years, 146 days old on 9/14 at SEA, became the youngest Ranger w/ 6+ relief strikeouts in a single outing since Gerald Alexander (23- 133) on 8/6/91 vs. CLE (also six relief SO)…lone scoreless outing of ’24 came in relief appearance on 9/26 at OAK (3.1 SHO IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 1 SO, 48 pitches/26 strikes) in a piggyback role of former college teammate, Kumar Rocker…at 24 years, 158 days old on 9/26, Leiter became the youngest Rangers pitcher to record a relief outing of 3.1+ SHO IP since Ariel Jurado (23-210) on 8/28/19 at LAA (6.0 SHO IP).
DEBUT NOTES: Had his contract selected and made MLB debut in start on 4/18 at DET (ND, 3.2 IP, 8 H, 7 R-ER, 3 BB, 3 SO, 85 pitches/52 strikes)…fanned Tigers’ leadoff man Riley Greene looking on three pitches in the bottom of the first for his first MLB strikeout…became first pitcher to start for TEX in MLB debut since LHP Cody Bradford on 5/15/23 vs. ATL (L, 5.0 IP, 6 R-ER) and first to do so on the road since LHP Jacob Latz on 8/25/21 at CLE (L, 4.2 IP, 3 R-ER)…became the 11th former No. 1 or 2 overall draft selection ever to make a start for Texas, first since Matt Bush (No. 1 overall by SD in 2004) as an ‘opener’ on 7/23/22 at OAK (1.1 SHO IP)…Jack’s father and former big league southpaw, Al, was in attendance for the game.
WITH ROUND ROCK: Spent the balance of the 2024 campaign at Round Rock (AAA), going 6-4, 3.51 ERA (30 ER/77.0 IP), with 110 SO/35 BB in 17 G/16 GS for the Express…had a Pacific Coast League-leading 12.86 strikeouts per 9.0 figure (min. 70.0 IP) en route to earning selection as PCL Pitcher of the Year in voting by league managers…claimed PCL Pitcher of the Week honors for April 22-28 after tossing 6.0 SHO IP with one hit, three walks and eight strikeouts on 4/25 vs. Salt Lake.
2023
Went 2-6, 5.19 ERA (49 ER/85.0 IP) with 114 strikeouts (12.1 SO/9) over 20 G/GS for Frisco (AA) and Round Rock (AAA) in second pro season…opened campaign with the RoughRiders and went 2-6, 5.07 (46 ER/81.2 IP) with 110 SO/47 BB and 14 HR allowed across 19 G/GS before earning late-season promotion to Triple-A on 9/23…led all Texas League pitchers (min. 80.0 IP) in SO/9 (12.12) and strikeout pct. (31.3%), and .224 opp. BA was sixth-lowest on circuit… made Triple-A debut in final start of season on 9/23 at Tacoma (ND, 3.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R-ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 2 HR)…on Development List from 6/22-29 and 7/15-8/26, using that time to focus on his mechanics and delivery…threw in live batting practice session at Globe Life Field on 8/16…went 0-1, 3.31 ERA (6 ER/16.1 IP) with 25 SO/4 BB and a .186 opp. BA in four GS at Double-A following activation from second Development List stint on 8/27.
2022
Made his professional debut over 23 games/22 starts at Double-A Frisco this season...he went 3-10 with a 5.54 ERA (57 ER/92.2 IP) and 10.59 strikeouts per 9.0 innings figure, which ranked fifth among Texas League pitchers (min. 80.0 IP)... issued walks to 56 of 425 (13.2%) batters faced...went 1-2 with a 1.93 ERA (4 ER/18.2 IP) over his first five starts, but was 2-8, 6.45 (53 ER/74.0 IP) in final 18 games/17 starts...opponents batted .247/.359/.381/.740, incl. 230 BA vs. RHB and .267 BA vs. LHB...was selected to participate in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at Dodger Stadium on 7/16, retiring all 3 BF over 1.0 IP in relief...had brief stint on Frisco’s Development List (6/29-7/9) as he recovered from arm fatigue…saw first official pro action in Cactus League ‘A’ game with the Rangers on 3/18 vs. KC (1.2 IP, two H, three R-ER, two BB, four SO, one HR)…rated as one of the top prospects in baseball according to pre-season rankings by MLB Pipeline (12), Baseball Prospectus (20), FanGraphs (24) and Baseball America (25)…entered the season rated as Texas’ top prospect by BA, Pipeline, and Baseball Prospectus.
