MILWAUKEE — Texas Rangers right-hander Jack Leiter reported soreness in his biceps following Wednesday’s rehab appearance and is expected to be shut down from throwing for at least a week. Whether he pitches for Texas again in 2026 is now in question.
The ankle that sent him to the injured list in June came through the outing without an issue, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said Friday.
Leiter worked one inning Wednesday night for Triple-A Round Rock in what had been scheduled as a two-inning outing, and he did not return for the second. Over that inning he allowed 3 hits and 3 earned runs, walked nobody, and struck out 1. He also hit a batter. Of his 25 pitches, 17 went for strikes. Round Rock lost the game to Albuquerque.
Nothing about how Leiter is used gets settled until he can start his throwing routine again.
“It was a little biceps thing, but we just want to make sure that’s all it is,” Schumaker said. “We’ve just kind of got to go through the medical treatment [element]. We’ve got to make sure he feels good enough to start his routine again. It’s certainly going to be more challenging from a starting standpoint [to return in 2026]. So, how do we get him back and utilize him the best we can out of the bullpen. But we’ve got to get the health figured out first.”
Jack Leiter’s Rehab Assignment Produced Three Outings
Wednesday’s appearance was the third of the assignment and the first out of the bullpen. Round Rock announced that day that Leiter’s rehab had been transferred to Triple-A from Double-A Frisco.
On Aug. 13 at Dell Diamond, in his first game action since June, Leiter threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings for Round Rock. He gave up 1 hit, walked 1, and struck out 3. He needed 48 pitches to do it, 32 of them strikes, against a target Texas had set at 40 to 45.
A week later he started for Double-A Frisco against Wichita and went 3 innings, allowing 3 hits and 4 earned runs while walking 2 and striking out 5. Five runs scored against him in total. He threw 59 pitches, 38 for strikes. He came back out for the fourth inning, walked the leadoff hitter, and was pulled. Schumaker put his fastball that night at 95 to 100 mph.
Jack Leiter’s Ankle Surgery Followed An April Slip
Leiter had arthroscopic surgery June 23 to remove a loose body from his right ankle. He traced the problem to an April game in which he slipped in the visiting on-deck circle while backing up home plate. The bone sat in his plant foot, the pain grew worse over the weeks that followed, and he began compensating in his delivery.
Where Leiter fits when he is healthy is a decision that belongs to the Rangers, and he is waiting on it.
“This is the first time I’ve ever had any kind of surgery, and obviously, you want to be optimistic, and you want to think it’s going to be smooth,” Leiter said during the last homestand, per MLB.com. “It hasn’t quite been, which is obviously frustrating. You want to be out there helping the team, and now it’s just about them making a decision for where that works, where I can help out, and what that looks like.”
Leiter last pitched for Texas on June 18, when he allowed 6 earned runs over 4 innings in a 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins. It was his third straight start of that kind. Through 15 starts and 80 innings this season he carries a 5.29 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP.
Last year he made 29 starts and threw 152 2/3 innings with a 3.86 ERA in his first full major league season. Texas took him with the second overall pick out of Vanderbilt in the 2021 draft. He has three career relief appearances, all of them in 2024.
Texas Rangers Weigh A Bullpen Role For Jack Leiter
President of baseball operations Chris Young raised the possibility of a bullpen role for Leiter earlier this month. On Aug. 25 in Chicago, three days before the biceps issue surfaced, Schumaker had not ruled out a return to the rotation.
“I think that’s potentially going to happen,” Schumaker explained. “But I don’t think everything’s off the table just yet. I think there is a 50-50 chance that he’s going to be out of the bullpen.”
The rotation Leiter would come back to has turned over since he last pitched in it. Nathan Eovaldi went on the 15-day injured list Aug. 10 with right posterior elbow inflammation, and he began playing catch this week in Chicago. Another 10 to 12 days were expected before he throws off a mound.
Cody Bradford made his 2026 debut Aug. 5 after missing all of last season with elbow trouble, and he entered Friday with a 3.05 ERA over 20 2/3 innings. Jordan Montgomery came off the 60-day injured list this month and has been working in relief.
The Milwaukee Brewers beat Texas 6-1 on Friday night at American Family Field. The Rangers are 66-69 and sit two games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West, having dropped a sixth straight road series in Chicago this week. The series continues Saturday with first pitch at 6:15 p.m. CT.
