Jack Leiter: Up-And-Coming Dynasty Player

If you read my posts regularly, you know by now that I have an aversion to young pitchers. Some of them are outstanding from the start, but the majority need time to learn their craft.

Well, it looks like Jack Leiter has finally learned his craft, turning himself into a pitcher and not just a thrower off the mound. His first taste of the majors in 2024 did not go well. Last season, he had his ups and downs, especially during the first half of the season.

But the Rangers stuck with him, and the more experience he got, the better he became. The success he had in the second half of the 2025 season has carried over into 2026, making Leiter an up-and-coming dynasty player.

The Stats

Jack Leiter was drafted out of high school by the New York Yankees in the 20th round of the 2019 draft. But instead of signing with the club, Leiter headed to Vanderbilt, where he helped lead the school to the College World Series finals, losing to Mississippi State.

Covid wiped out most of the 2020 season, but Leiter was off to a 2-0 start with a 1.72 ERA and 0.830 WHIP in his first four appearances. In 2021, the right-hander dominated opposing teams, going 11-4 with a 2.45 ERA and 0.845 WHIP. In 110 innings of work, he struck out 179 batters, a K/9 rate of 14.6. If there was one issue with Leiter while at Vanderbilt, it was his control. He averaged 4.6 BB/9 in 2020 and 3.7 in 2021.

At the conclusion of the season, the Rangers drafted him with the second pick overall, and he started his professional career in 2022 at the Double-A level. But the dominance Leiter displayed in college was not showing up on the mound in the minors. The control issues he had in college were still an issue, as was the fact that he really didn’t have good command of his secondary pitches.

This led to an ERA of 5.54 and a WHIP of 1.554 with Frisco in 2022, and in 2023, those two numbers were 5.19 and 1.459 at Double-A and Triple-A.

The Tools

• Four Seam Fastball

His four seamer is a pitch that separates Leiter from most other starters. He throws it at an average of 97.1 mph, ranking in the 86th percentile in baseball. Throwing it 31% of the time, opposing hitters have only a .111 batting average against the pitch through his first three starts, with a .222 SLG. He attacks the top of the strike zone with this pitch, and it averages 1.6 inches more rise than the average four seamer.

Jack Leiter, however, is learning not to rely on his fastball. In 2024, he threw it 51% of the time in his nine appearances. So far this season, he is throwing it 31% of the time as he is learning to pitch and not just throw.

• Change

This is a pitch Leiter is starting to lean on more and more as a weapon to offset his fastball. It averages 90 mph, so there is a nice difference in speed when compared to the fastball. When Leiter first came to the majors, he threw the change 6% of the time. Last year, that percentage rose to 16.5%, and this year he is throwing it 25.6% of the time. And there is a reason for that – it is a really good pitch as he has a 43% whiff rate and an 18.5% put away rate.

He had trouble with this pitch in his last start against the Dodgers, but lots of pitchers have trouble against the Dodgers lineup.

• Slider

Like the fastball, the slider is a pitch Leiter is using less than in previous seasons, but he is still having success with it. The pitch doesn’t move much horizontally, but it has a nice, sharp break, averaging 2.8 inches more drop against right-handers than the average slider in the majors. Throwing it 18% of the time now (compared to 23% last year), opposing hitters have a .143 average and .357 SLG against the slider with a 50% whiff rate.

• Curve, Cutter, and Sinker

Jack Leiter features three other pitches – the curve, the cutter, and the sinker. Like his slider, his curve has more drop than sweep to it, with 4.2 inches less break than the average curve to righties, but with two inches more drop. Thrown 10% of the time (28 total thrown), opposing hitters have yet to get a hit against the pitch. Last season, they had only a .237 batting average versus the curve.

The cutter and sinker are thrown more for show than anything else. He has thrown the cutter 7.8% of the time and sinker 7% this season. Combined, hitters are 3-for-13 against the two pitches (.231) with one homer and five strikeouts. The cutter could become a pitch Leiter features more, especially after not throwing it at all last season. But in his first three starts, hitters are 1-for-7 against the pitch with four strikeouts and a 41.7% whiff rate.

Improvement Started Last Season…

If you were paying attention to Jack Leiter last season, you would likely been an owner trying to trade for him or make sure you kept him on your roster if you already owned him. I fell into the first segment of owners – I traded for him in several leagues at the deadline, and I am glad I did.

Leiter didn’t set the world on fire during the first half of the 2025 season, going 5-6 with a 4.37 ERA and 1.357 WHIP while posting a 7.7 K/9 rate. But as June turned into July, Leiter started to see success on the mound. Over his final 13 starts of the season, he had a 3.28 ERA, 1.192 WHIP, and a 10.0 K/9 rate. He had a 3.43 ERA and 1.381 WHIP in July, followed by a 2.76 ERA and 1.261 WHIP in August while maintaining a 10.7 K/9 rate. He slowed down in September as his ERA was 4.20, but the command continued to improve as he had a 1.167 WHIP.

…And Carried Over Into This Season

Leiter has traveled a bumpy road as a professional pitcher, but each season he has learned to adjust, and it appears everything is pointing to him having a breakout season. He still walks too many hitters, but that rate was hurt by the four walks he allowed against the Dodgers in 3.2 innings of work, and on Thursday, he allowed three walks in 5.2 innings. In his first two starts of the year, he issued only two walks in 11 innings of work. Command is better, but it is not consistent every game.

With his command looking better, so is the fact that Leiter is now more of a pitcher than just a hurler on the mound. Professional hitters have shown they can hit good fastballs, and Leiter learned that the hard way. But since joining the Rangers, he has relied less on the fastball and mixed in his other pitches much better to keep hitters off balance. And it is not just the fact that he is mixing in his pitches. He has much better movement on them as well.

In 2025, his four seamer had 17.4 inches of rise, while it sits at 17.9 inches this year. His slider has undergone a drastic change since last year. In 2025, it had 0.2 inches less break vs. right-handed batters and 0.4 inches more drop compared to the average slider. This year, those numbers are 0.4 inches less break but 2.8 inches more drop. Leiter’s slider has gone from 1.4 inches of rise to 1.3 inches of drop, making it much more effective when set up by his fastball.

His curve has seen the same improvement in movement. In 2025, it had 9.7 inches of drop and 0.5 inches less drop against righties than the average curve. This year, the curve has 12.4 inches of drop and two inches more drop against righties. His curve is more of a 12-to-6 pitch now, and thanks to the better movement on his slider and curve, along with the cutter he is showing again, he is attacking all parts of the strike zone this year, making it harder for hitters to sit on one location.

The Verdict

All of this is a long way of saying you should jump on the Jack Leiter bandwagon if you have not already done so. His strikeout rate is up, a continuation of last year’s improvement. His walk rate is down, also a continuation of last year’s improvement. If you are in a Yahoo league, he is rostered in only 58% of leagues, and that number is only 33% in ESPN leagues. If you are in a Fantrax league and you don’t have Leiter on your team, you are going to have to trade for him, as he is rostered in 96% of leagues.

But if the right trade can be made, make it. Leiter is only 25, turning 26 next week – so he is entering the prime of his career, and his long learning curve should be over. Now is the time for him to turn all of his tools into consistent weapons against opposing hitters and turn into a solid No. 1 starter.

Thanks!

Thank you for reading, and come back again next week.