Jack Leiter Leads Rangers Rotation Entering Huge Showdown with Astros

The right-hander (9-8, 3.81) is emerging as a potential ace for this staff, even in the shadow of Jacob deGrom and the injured Nathan Eovaldi. He had a rough outing against Milwaukee last week but did enough to keep Texas in that game. He went 4.2 innings, allowing seven hits and three earned runs. He walked two and struck out four.

The decisions don’t matter as much for Leiter, who is 2-2 with a 3.03 ERA in his last seven starts and 5-5 with a 3.76 ERA in his last 15 starts. It’s the consistency and length that matters. He continues to do that for Texas as it makes a playoff push.  

Tuesday: Merrill Kelly

The right-hander (12-7, 3.21) was a trade deadline acquisition for Texas, and it’s turned out to be a wise one, especially with the Eovaldi injury. He won his last start against the Brewers, even though he gave up 10 hits in 5.2 innings. He managed to only allow three hits. He walked none and struck out six.

With Texas he is 3-1 with a 3.19 ERA in eight starts. He has 41 strikeouts and nine walks in 48 innings. Batters are hitting .232 against him, which is a bit better than the .206 he allowed with Arizona before the trade.

Wednesday: Jacob deGrom

The right-hander (12.7, 2.82) will pitch on normal rest when he faces the Astros on Wednesday. He started against his former team, the New York Mets, for the first time and excelled. He allowed four hits and three earned runs in seven innings, as he struck out two. It was his longest outing since June 25.

The All-Star hasn’t been quite as sharp since the All-Star break, as he is 2-4 with a 3.69 ERA in 39 innings, with 41 strikeouts and nine walks. Avoiding allowing home runs is key.