SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Jack Leiter is almost there. He can feel it.
The Texas Rangers top pitching prospect and former No. 2 overall MLB draft pick looked every bit of the promising hurler during his second spring training appearance Tuesday at Salt River Fields against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
But first, he had to battle through a messy first inning.
Leiter allowed a run on four hits in two innings. Most of the damage came in his first inning when he started the fourth and was greeted with an 0-1 double to center from Eugenio Suárez. After a flyout, Suárez scored on a single to right. Leiter struck out A.J. Vukovich swinging on a 1-2, 90.3 mph cutter down in the zone before allowing two first-pitch singles, the second of which right fielder Evan Carter fielded and threw home for an inning-ending third out. Of his 20 pitches, he threw 15 strikes. The Rangers beat the D-Backs 10-3.
Leiter had a long conversation with pitching coach Mike Maddux between innings. Whatever Maddux told him, it worked. Leiter threw 11 pitches in a 1-2-3 fifth inning, inducing a popout to third, a groundout to first, and a flyout to center.
"I need to be better than that in the first inning, and I know I am," Leiter said. "But the stuff feels good and an execution. The second inning was better. So it's just progress; keep building. That's baseball. I made some pitches that should have been executed better, and they made me pay for it, gave up a run there, and then Evan bailed me out with a really nice throw and [Andrew] Knapp with the tag."
Manager Bruce Bochy said he saw a difference in Leiter in the fifth.
"He got comfortable. You could see the longer he was out there, even in the first inning, he just got better and better," Bochy said. "The second inning was a good inning for him."
Leiter put to work some of what he used after a rough patch last July. Keep things simple and let his natural talent work for him.
"I settled down in the second inning and just tried to be as under control as possible because I make my best throws when I'm under control," he said. "I control what I can control, and that's the task at hand and getting better one day at a time. In my head, it's a totally clean slate, of course. I did a lot of stuff this offseason and made a lot of progress. And now it's time to just wait and see and let the results take care of themselves. But I'm excited for sure."
More must-reads: