Jack Leiter’s road back has hit another snag, and this one could push his Rangers return even further away.
The right-hander, who has been working his way back from arthroscopic ankle surgery in late June, is being shut down for now because of biceps soreness, according to Zach Sweat of MLB.com. Manager Skip Schumaker said the club will “reevaluate what that looks like in the next couple of days.”
Leiter hasn’t pitched for Texas since June 18, when the Twins tagged him for six earned runs over four innings in a 9-3 Rangers loss. That outing was the third straight rough start for the 26-year-old, who has posted a 5.29 ERA in 15 starts and 80 innings this season. His 2025 numbers were far better: a 3.86 ERA across 29 starts and 152 2/3 innings in what was the former second overall pick’s first full season.
There is still some reason to believe better results could be ahead if Leiter gets back on the mound. Fielding-independent numbers all point in the same direction, with SIERA at 4.21, xFIP at 4.24, FIP at 4.75 and xERA at 4.83. But that discussion only matters if the latest setback doesn’t keep him out for a longer stretch.
The biceps issue surfaced during a one-inning rehab outing with Triple-A Round Rock on Wednesday, Schumaker said. It also makes a September return look less likely, and it comes as the Rangers were already weighing a move to the bullpen. Earlier this week, Schumaker put that possibility plainly: “there is a 50-50 chance that he’s going to be out of the bullpen,” per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.
Texas has already been forced to navigate a banged-up rotation. On Aug. 9, several weeks after Leiter’s surgery, Nathan Eovaldi went on the IL with elbow inflammation and remains out. That leaves Jacob deGrom, MacKenzie Gore, Cody Bradford, Cal Quantrill and Kumar Rocker in the current mix.
DeGrom, 38, has had a couple of rough outings lately, and his ERA has climbed from 3.48 to 4.21 since the start of July. Gore has been a little worse at 4.40, and Rocker sits at 4.41. Bradford and Quantrill, though, have given the Rangers much-needed stability.
Bradford missed all of last season with elbow issues and made his 2026 debut on Aug. 5.
He entered Friday with a 3.05 ERA over 20 2/3 innings. Quantrill has been even more surprising.
The 31-year-old journeyman has made just 10 starts in 27 appearances, but after back-to-back shutout outings against the Nationals and Angels, he owns a 2.90 ERA in 83 2/3 innings.
Quantrill doesn’t bring big velocity and has struck out only 17.3% of hitters, but his production has mattered. It has helped keep the Rangers in the AL West race despite a 66-68 record. They are still just one game behind the Astros.
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