With the Texas Rangers battling for position in the competitive AL West division, they learned that they will be without starting pitcher Jack Leiter for a lengthy period of time.
On Tuesday, Leiter underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle to remove a loose body, per MLB.com's Kennedi Landry. Leiter was placed on the 15-day IL on Sunday with what the team called a right ankle posterior impingement. After his successful surgery, the Rangers announced that they expect him to return before the end of the season, but that his timeline is "fluid."
Leiter sustained the injury earlier in the season but was pitching through the discomfort. President of baseball operations Chris Young revealed that Leiter had re-aggravated the injury in late April when he slipped on a bat in the on-deck circle. Leiter struggled in his three June starts, allowing five home runs and 16 earned runs in 13.2 innings.
The news is a huge blow to the Rangers' rotation, and the team will try to make do with veteran Cal Quantrill stepping in to take Leiter's place. Although the Rangers sit two games below .500 as we near the mid-point of the MLB season, they are just 1.5 games back of the division-leading Seattle Mariners and just a single game back of the final AL Wild Card spot.
Leiter was an effective middle-of-the-rotation arm for the Rangers and had been consistent before re-aggravating his ankle injury. He gave up five or more runs in each of his losses in June, but only allowed five runs twice before that this season: once each against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers.
In 15 starts this year, Leither has a 3-7 record with a 5.29 ERA and 1.438 WHIP in 80.0 innings of work. He has 83 strikeouts this season, but has been susceptible to giving up the long-ball, already allowing 14 home runs. In comparison, Leiter only allowed 18 home runs in 2025 across 151.2 innings. In his defense, five of those home runs came in June when he was dealing with his ankle injury.
According to the Dallas Morning News' Evan Grant, the Rangers are preparing for Leiter to be out until August. As long as the team is still competitive in vying for a playoff spot, the late-season return of Leiter to the rotation should be a huge boost for the Rangers heading into September.
