ARLINGTON -- Jack Leiter doesn¡¯t remember when he went to his first Opening Day. After all, when he was born in 2000, his father Al was in the midst of a seven-year stint with the Mets.
This year, Jack made his first Opening Day roster, and at 24 years, 347 days old, he became the youngest Texas pitcher to start one of the club¡¯s first two games of a season since Mart¨ªn P¨¦rez (22 years, 362 days old) started the Rangers¡¯ second game of the 2014 season.
On Friday against the Red Sox, Leiter also became the youngest Texas starter to win one of the team¡¯s first two contests in a year since Jos¨¦ Guzm¨¢n (22 years, 364 days old) pitched eight innings of three-run ball in 1986 against the Blue Jays.
Leiter -- the Rangers¡¯ No. 3 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- delivered the best start of his short MLB career in Texas¡¯ 4-1 win over the Red Sox at Globe Life Field. He tossed five innings of one-run ball, striking out four and allowing just one walk. None of Boston¡¯s five hits went for extra bases.
¡°He can win up here,¡± said manager Bruce Bochy. ¡°That's what I hope he takes from this game. He's a Major League pitcher, and he can win ballgames up here. He can get through a tough lineup, which they have. That should really do a lot for his confidence with what he did tonight. We lost last night. We needed a win tonight. He came through for us.¡±
Catcher Jonah Heim -- who homered twice in the win -- said the biggest difference in Leiter from 2024 to ¡®25 is that he¡¯s throwing all his pitches for strikes.
Leiter generated 12 swings and misses, while also averaging 97.8 mph on his 29 four-seamers, the highest average velocity on the pitch in his 10 total big league outings (previous high was 97.3 mph on Sept. 14, 2024, against the Mariners). His punchout of Alex Bregman on a 99.0 mph four-seamer in the first marked the fastest pitch on a strikeout in Leiter¡¯s young career.
He was able to mix in all his pitches, including the newly reworked sinker (28% of the time on Friday) and kick changeup (16%).
¡°It felt good,¡± Leiter said of his fastball. ¡°I think at times we maybe stayed a little stubborn with the fastball, but we got fairly good results today. Overall, the mix, everything felt good today. ¡ The two-seam got some good results and the kick change was effective. It was a grind at times, but it was a fun one today.¡±
In total, Leiter looked more comfortable than he's really ever been up here. That's major for the Rangers.
In nine games (six starts) in 2024, Leiter struggled to an 8.83 ERA. Bochy said that part of Leiter¡¯s improvement comes from his pace and comfortability. He¡¯s not rushing through every pitch and letting things unravel.
Now he¡¯s calm and determined. He¡¯s poised with every pitch and able to slow down the game to stop the bleeding when necessary.
¡°I think my thing is always slowing myself down pregame,¡± Leiter said. ¡°I'm trying not to get too pumped up too quickly, because I know the adrenaline is going to kick in, and that's what I feed off of. But it can go too far. I think last year there were pockets where I was trying to do too much. Even today, I could have done a much better job executing and putting guys away, but we battled.¡±
One start into his second year does not make the entire season. But it¡¯s no doubt a good way to get things rolling for Leiter¡¯s first full season in the big leagues.
Leiter said his confidence level is high because of the process that he¡¯s committed to and continues to commit to every single day. That¡¯ll be key as he continues to go through the highs and lows of a full season of baseball.
¡°The goal is not just to stay up here, but to do it at a high level and help the team win,¡± Leiter said. ¡°Obviously that's the number one goal for everyone in the organization. All I really want to do is win games and do it at a high level for the Rangers. So I think the biggest goal would be to stick up here and compete at a high level and put the team in a good spot to win every fifth or sixth day.¡±