Dominant Texas Rangers Pitcher Could Have Been 'Better' in Career Start

Texas Rangers starter Jack Leiter delivered the first quality start of his young career.

May 13, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter (35) bumps fist with pitching coach Mike Maddux (31) as he walks to the dugout after striking out the side during the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images / Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Texas Rangers starter Jack Leiter turned a career performance in Tuesday night’s 4-1 win over the Colorado Rockies, and felt he could’ve done more.

“I think I still could’ve done a better job of it and potentially pitched deeper into that game,” Leiter said, according to MLB.com. “But when you know the bullpen is kind of light, you’ve got to attack even more and do everything you can to get deep into a game. That’s what I tried to do.”

That the 22-year-old former No. 2 pick thought he left something on the table after his first career quality start shows a level of maturity and confidence, as well as potential. The Rangers are have a top-of-the-rotation talent in Leiter.

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More starts like Tuesday will get him closer to that threshold. Leiter allowed a single run over a career-high 6.0 innings, earning his third win of the season after giving up two hits, three walks and striking out five. He threw 89 pitches, 57 for strikes.

Colorado’s lone run came on an RBI single from Hunter Goodman in the top of the first inning. After that hit, Rockies went 0-for-15 with four punchouts against Leiter. Opposing batters are just 5-for-38 (.132) off Leiter in his last two starts.

His stuff was electric against the Rockies. He fired a 99.7 mph fastball to Jordan Beck in the first, matching the fastest pitch of his career, per Statcast. Leiter threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 22 batters faced (72.7%), his second-highest first-pitch strike percentage of 2025 (75.0% on May 8 against the Boston Red Sox.

“His stuff was still really good,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said, according to MLB.com. “He’s got a lot of strength and stamina and he maintains his stuff even though he’s at 85, 90 pitches.”

And yet Leiter (3-1) could’ve done more in his mind. The Rangers were without closer Luke Jackson, who was hit by a comebacker Monday, so Leiter hoped to give the bullpen more of a break.

“I kind of wasted some pitches, got behind on some non-competitive walks -- you turn those into quick outs [instead] and you’re going back out for the seventh, for sure,” Leiter said.