The Texas Rangers ran out of patience with Jack Leiter’s ankle. On Sunday, they placed the right-hander on the 10-day injured list with a right ankle posterior impingement. Jose Corniell is coming up from Triple-A to take his spot.
Leiter has been grinding through this thing for a while. Back in late April, manager Skip Schumaker mentioned the nagging ankle issue. At the time it sounded like something that would fade. It didn’t.
The results tell the story. Over 15 starts this season, Leiter has a 5.29 ERA with 83 strikeouts and 35 walks. But his last three outings have been especially rough. He hasn’t made it through four innings without giving up at least four earned runs. His most recent start against the Twins was a disaster six earned runs in five innings.
Leiter was better last season. Way better. In 2025 he posted a 3.86 ERA across 29 starts with a 148/67 K/BB ratio. That version of him looked like a real piece of a rotation that could help Texas compete. The Rangers entered Sunday at 36-40, sitting third in the AL West. They need the good Leiter back.
There’s no official timeline for his return yet. The team hasn’t said much beyond the IL placement. But giving him time to actually rest the ankle instead of pitching through it makes sense. At least now he’ll get something close to real recovery time instead of trying to gut it out between starts.
The Rangers have to be careful here. Young arms are fragile and ankle issues can mess with mechanics in ways that lead to bigger problems. Leiter has already shown he can handle a big league workload. The question is whether this ankle keeps him from showing what he can really do.
For now Corniell gets his shot. And Leiter gets ice and a break. The Rangers will watch closely. They don’t have much margin for error in a division where every game matters.
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