ARLINGTON -- Could the Rangers, already plagued by a number of pitching injuries and ailments, get one last reinforcement for a potential postseason run?
Rangers right-hander Jack Leiter threw a bullpen session at Globe Life Field on Sunday after a weeks’ long shutdown due to biceps soreness he felt during his last rehab appearance on Aug. 27.
“Ankle looked good, physically, he looked good,” manager Skip Schumaker said of Leiter’s bullpen. “We'll see. It’s his first bullpen in a while, which is obviously nice to see. Obviously with where we're at, we need all the arms we can get. Seeing him out in the bullpen was encouraging, but it’s the first bullpen in a while. So we got to take a little bit more time.”
Leiter, who underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a loose body from his right ankle area on June 23, made three rehab appearances -- two starts and one out of the bullpen -- with the aim of making his way back before the end of the regular season.
He spent a week at the Rangers’ facility in Surprise, Ariz., during the team’s last road trip before returning to Arlington to continue his rehab and build up.
“Hopefully we’re over the hump,” Leiter said. “So far, so good. I don't want to forecast too far out, but [I’ll probably do] another bullpen, maybe in three days. Then at that point, we’ll look up and see what we got, see what the standings look like in terms of continuing to build or starting the offseason. A lot is up in the air, obviously, but we’re not ruling anything out.”
Leiter did his best to pitch through the ankle injury early in the season, though it led to a 5.29 ERA in 15 starts. He was initially intended to build back up as a starter, but as the season wound down, bringing Leiter back as a reliever felt more viable.
The Rangers’ pitching staff has stumbled to the finish line in September, with Cal Quantrill landing on the injured list on Sept. 20 and Nathan Eovaldi returning from his own IL stint without a rehab assignment, opting to build up with the big league club. Even MacKenzie Gore, who leads the club in starts (32) and innings (165 2/3), endured muscle spasms during his last start. This has all weighed on the bullpen during the season's final stretch.
With the setback, Leiter is likely to only pitch again if the Rangers make the postseason.
With six games left in the regular season and the Rangers with a one-game lead in the American League West over the second-place Astros, Leiter is still ramping up with the intent to start again in 2026.
“At an individual level, the No. 1 most important thing is to feel healthy going into the offseason,” Leiter said. “So, checking these boxes of moving off the mound, feeling good, playing catch, those are all little wins.
"Anything else on top of that is obviously great. It's in the back of my head. Obviously, there's excitement around the clubhouse and what could happen here. You don't want to get your hopes too high or low, but so far, so good.”