Leiter slows it down and bounces back after rough 1st

ARLINGTON -- Jack Leiter hung a slider, his third pitch of the game, middle-middle to Taylor Ward. The Angels' outfielder promptly sent the pitch 385 feet to left-center for a home run as Leiter walked off the mound and collected himself.

It was a rough start to Leiter’s sixth MLB outing, as he then hit Zach Neto with a pitch and allowed him to score as well. But everything improved afterward, as the Rangers pulled out a 6-4 win over the Angels on Saturday night at Globe Life Field.

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“Part of the frustration sometimes of baseball is that the first pitch matters just as much as the last one,” Leiter said. “The way I started off is the exact opposite of how you want to start off. The first two guys in the game are crossing home plate. That's never what you want. But I think there's a lot of takeaways, and one is always to execute from pitch one.”

The Rangers' No. 4 prospect ultimately allowed three runs over five-plus innings, while striking out a career-high six batters. He induced 20 whiffs as he overpowered the Angels' lineup for much of the night. The 20 swings and misses were tied with Nathan Eovaldi and Max Scherzer for the fourth-most among Texas pitchers this season: Eovaldi (23), Andrew Heaney (22) and Eovaldi again (21).

That also included 12 swings and misses on his four-seam fastball, which is tied for the second most four-seam whiffs by a Rangers pitcher in 2024 to only Heaney’s 14 on May 11 at Colorado.

“It’s just about execution,” Leiter said. “I feel like when the breaking balls are executed the way that they should be -- which hasn't been the case in most of my big league outings up until this one -- but when they are executed, I feel like there's a good opportunity for a swing and miss. So it all comes back to execution.”

Leiter pitched into the sixth inning for the second time in his young big league career, but for the second time, he also didn’t record an out. After walking the leadoff hitter, manager Bruce Bochy quickly gave him the hook. Rangers reliever Andrew Chafin allowed the inherited runner to score.

Bochy said he might have allowed Leiter to keep going if the first runner hadn’t reached base.

“I thought Jack was really good tonight,” said shortstop Josh Smith, who had a go-ahead two-run single. “It’s super hard for a young guy to come up here, and give a home run up in his first at-bat and then to bounce back like that. Honestly, this win’s on him for keeping us in the game, giving us a chance. So I thought Jack was really good tonight. I thought he was good in his last start, too. So he's progressing pretty well.”

Despite failing to complete the sixth inning, it was yet another step in the right direction for Leiter, who is becoming more and more comfortable at the big league level. It wasn’t a perfect outing, obviously, but it was one that could have easily fallen apart right before his eyes.

“I think I have a conscious effort to slow it down,” Leiter said. “Understand that it's the same game, and you can't do anything but make this one pitch. So whether you just gave up a homer to the leadoff guy or you’re five innings into a no-hitter, it's all about this one pitch. So I do whatever I can do to slow myself down and control the adrenaline and use it for good. That’s the goal, and that's helpful.”

In his most recent stint with the big league club, Leiter has looked notably calmer. He’s been more confident in himself, trusting that his stuff would play at this level.

“It's not easy to come in and spot a start or two,” Bochy said pregame. “Now he's able to hang with the team and watch the games, and that's going to help bring a little sense of comfort, I think, even though he's been around the game all his life.”

Leiter echoed that sentiment, noting that he’s very routine oriented, almost to a fault. Just being with and around the big league club has allowed him to get into a new routine and focus on learning throughout the week leading into each start.

“It's about progress, especially this time of year,” Leiter said. “You want to be continuing to get better and better. I felt like there were a lot of positives about this one. As a whole, I felt good and makes it a lot better that we won the game.”