These two new pitches could transform Leiter's career

This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Jack Leiter -- the Rangers’ No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline -- has a big league father and was once one of the best pitchers in college baseball while at Vanderbilt. He grew up in and around the game. He’s had it at his fingertips.

But this story, almost surprisingly, starts with Matt Festa. The 31-year-old right-hander pitched in 18 games of relief for the Rangers last season before he was designated for assignment in January. He returned on a Minor League deal this spring with an invite to big league camp.

But during his brief stint with the big league club in 2024, he introduced Leiter to a new pitch -- a kick change.

“We were just talking, how pitchers talk, and told him I've always had trouble getting a changeup to consistently go down in the direction that I want,” Leiter explained. “He told me all this sciencey stuff behind it, and I didn't really know, but he showed me the grip, and I played catch with him that day -- and I liked it immediately.”

Leiter says he likes it better than any changeup he’s ever thrown. He said it’s a bit of a “funky” pitch that’s hard to barrel up when he commands it well. That's exactly what Leiter needs.

“It's kind of like all the craze in pitching,” Leiter said. “I think the guys at Vanderbilt are throwing it. Clay Holmes did an interview talking about how he's throwing it. I think [Andrés] Mu?oz from Seattle, I saw him throwing it. It's literally just however you normally throw your changeup, but you kind of just spike this middle finger a little bit to make these even lengths. It kind of just sets the ball on a better axis. So I just throw. I just grip it and throw it like a fastball and it moves like so.”

Leiter said he started throwing the new changeup at the end of the 2024 season after his initial talk with Festa, but not nearly as often as he would’ve liked as he tried to find his command of the pitch.

“Then I got here in spring and the first couple BPs, it had a really good movement, but I wasn't quite getting it to the plate,” Leiter said. “I knew that once I did, it would be a good pitch. I finally started to command it and get in the zone a good amount. So it's an exciting pitch, and it just adds another element to pitching that'll make things easier and more fun.”

Additionally, Leiter added a two-seamer to his arsenal this offseason. It’s not as full-scale of a change as the new and improved changeup, but it makes his entire repertoire better.

“The two-seam fastball is just to give another look,” Leiter said. “It’s to get in on righties, away from lefties, kind of get to that quadrant that I'm not as good at getting to with the four-seam, and it makes the four-seam play better as a result.

“I have pitches to work with. I’m throwing them all in the zone. It feels like a really good spot to be in with new weapons. I have the cutter in my back pocket and I can throw it kind of whenever, but I don't feel a need for it right now.”

Here’s the MLB Pipeline breakdown of Leiter's arsenal:

“His fastball continues to sit at 93-96 mph and top out at 98 with plenty of induced vertical break and riding life, but it's not quite the elite pitch it was in college because he hasn't commanded it well and pro hitters have crushed it when he doesn't locate it up in the zone. He has added velocity and depth to a mid-80s slider that was his most effective pitch in 2023. He's now having trouble getting strikes or chases with an upper-70s curveball that used to be his best secondary offering and doesn't show much faith in a mid-80s changeup with modest fade."

The addition of the two-seamer and reworked changeup look to combat those downfalls.

“Jack really looks good,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s got his big fastball, sitting 98 [mph]. Now he’s got the two-seamer in his arsenal. That's going to be a big pitch for him to run with. I think that's something that's gonna help him. He's come up with that fairly hard changeup, right up around 92 mph, which has good depth to it. Again, I think, a huge pitch for him, because a lot of teams are looking for a fastball when they face him.

“He's worked hard. He's coming in here in great shape. I like that he's carrying himself like he's on a mission. So he's in a good place right now.”