Talk about being thrown to the wolves. Jack Leiter’s fifth major league start was against the Yankees. That’s a brutal assignment.

In his previous four starts, he didn’t last more than four innings. In those four starts, he gave up seven earned runs, four, six, and two. The game where he gave up two was against the White Sox, who are well on their way to the worst season in baseball history. 

The twenty-four-year-old righty took his 12.83 ERA to face Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and the rest of this daunting Yankees lineup.

For five innings, he hung in there. The control issues that have dogged him in the past didn’t materialize. Leiter didn’t walk a batter. After facing the minimum in the first two innings, he gave up two runs in the third. He got through the fourth and fifth without allowing a baserunner and seemed to be settling in for a good game.

Then came the sixth. Along with it came the third time facing the Yankees lineup. Gleyber Torres led off with an infield single. Juan Soto rammed a single up the middle. Then Aaron Judge doubled down the line to score the Yankees third run, and chase Leiter from the game. 

Newly acquired Chase Anderson, who was recently DFAed by Boston, picked up by Texas, and was pitching to a 6+ ERA at Round Rock, entered the game and promptly allowed the other two runners who were Leiter’s responsibility to score.

So, his line looked uglier that it might have. Five innings, five earned runs. 

Afterwards, Bochy and the Rangers announcers were singing his praise. He looked poised. He didn’t walk anyone. He pitched great four of the five innings. 

Somehow it feels as if they want Leiter to succeed so badly that they give him a pass. The reality is, had they removed Leiter from the game after five innings, all those accolades would have been appropriate. 

But it was the mess he made in the sixth that cannot be overlooked. 

After five starts, Leiter’s ERA is still astronomical, it’s 11.78. But they are going to run him out every fifth day to see what he has. Maybe it was just a case of running up against the Yankees. Maybe it was a huge learning experience and a major step forward in composure.

The Rangers have nothing to lose seeing if he can build on it. One thing is for certain: with an ERA of 11.78, he really has nowhere to go but up, or down as the case may be. Let’s hope his ERA doesn’t go up.

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