Jack Leiter #35

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 Major League career as right-handed pitcher (1990-99; 2001)…cousin, Mark Jr., has seen MLB action with Philadelphia (2017-18), Toronto (2018) and Chicago-NL (2022-23)…was selected by Texas in the first round (second overall) in 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 December of 2023...remains close with fellow Texas farmhand and former college teammate, Kumar Rocker...Pitched two seasons at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, compiling a 13-4 record and 2.08 ERA over 22 games/21 starts in 2020-21…a finalist for the 2021 Golden Spikes Award, Leiter was selected as SEC Newcomer of the Year as well as All-SEC First Team.

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.