The Rangers announced that Jack Leiter has been placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to June 19), as the right-hander is dealing with a right ankle posterior impingement. Right-hander Jose Corniell was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.
Team president of baseball ops Chris Young told the Dallas Morning News’ Shawn McFarland and other reporters that Leiter has been battling ankle soreness for much of the season, and the injury “got a little worse” when Leiter slipped on the visitors’ on-deck circle during the Rangers/Pirates game on April 22. Leiter went behind the plate in pursuit of a stray Brandon Nimmo throw, but he took a bad step on the circle and ended up falling to the ground.
Leiter remained in the game after the incident, and he has apparently spent the last two months trying to pitch through discomfort. This may explain Leiter’s 5.29 ERA over 80 innings this season, and the team finally opted to put him on the injured list to let him fully recover.
The ankle problem is “altering his mechanics and clearly it’s impacting his performance,” Young said. “Jack has not made it an issue and that speaks to his level of competitiveness. He’s not had excuses, but the reality is, he’s having to change his delivery to compensate for it and we cannot put him in harm’s way.”
Leiter’s 4.21 SIERA is over a run lower than his ERA, so even though his metrics are generally average at best, the Rangers could’ve been hoping that Leiter’s luck would eventually start to even out as his ankle gradually healed. Without any progress on the ankle front, however, the right-hander will now spend at least the next two weeks trying to get himself back in good form.
Texas is four games into a stretch of 15 games in as many days. Without another off-day until July 3, there isn’t much time for the pitching staff to adjust, which is why Young suggested that the club will be “creative” and use an opener in front of whichever bulk pitcher ends up eating most of Leiter’s innings.
Corniell may be a candidate for such a role, though he has struggled to a 6.08 ERA over 26 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level this season. The right-hander made his MLB debut in 2025, allowing three earned runs over 1 2/3 innings of relief work in the lone appearance of his big league career.
Long man Cal Quantrill may be a candidate for pseudo-rotation work under the opener/bulk plan, or Texas could dip into the minor league ranks again for another starter. The Rangers would probably have to add someone to the 40-man roster in such a scenario, as David Davalillo is the only starting candidate currently on the 40-man, and Davalillo has zero MLB experience and some shaky Triple-A numbers.
