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Jack Leiter’s third Texas Rangers start made it clear: He’s not yet ready for the majors

Leiter’s gotten progressively worse with each start, culminating in a six-run outpouring in a loss to the Guardians on Tuesday.

ARLINGTON — The Rangers gave out slick, glittery World Series replica rings to fans before Tuesday night’s game against Cleveland. And, society being what it is, there was already a vigorous resale market online by the second inning.

Or, put another way: After Jack Leiter had departed his home debut.

Maybe someday there will be a memorabilia market for tickets — as if they still printed them — to Leiter’s Globe Life Field debut. For now, though, the only ticket to speak of is probably a one-way job back to Triple-A Round Rock for more refinement. The Rangers don’t have any other options. His three MLB starts have gotten progressively worse. On Tuesday, the story of a 7-4 Cleveland win was that it knocked Leiter out before the end of two painful innings.

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It was the Rangers’ fifth straight loss and dropped them back to .500. It put a heavy load on a fragile bullpen and may require some additional pitching reinforcements to make it through the weekend. The only healthy pitcher on the 40-man roster is lefty Antoine Kelly, who has never pitched in the majors. There are other options not on the 40, but that would require more substantial roster shuffling.

It can’t be Leiter. Not right now. He simply isn’t ready. He scattered his fastball badly, landing only 45% of them in the strike zone. When he got ahead in counts, he could not finish hitters off. When he got behind, he could not climb back into counts. He hit the leadoff batter in both innings he started after getting ahead 0-2. He assured his exit with a homer on another 0-2 pitch.

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If anything, things have seemed to go backward for Leiter since his April 18 debut at Detroit. He’s perhaps tried harder and harder to command the fastball and has instead grown wilder with it.

“I think his starts have been similar,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “Just not quite the consistency he has to have up here. He’s getting close. These are teaching moments.”

Leiter threw 16 pitches before getting an out. After getting up on Tyler Freeman 0-2, he hit him with a poorly executed fastball. Andrés Giménez battled off seven foul balls before grounding into a fielder’s choice, then walked Josh Naylor on five pitches.

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His offense did not help him. They saw only nine pitches in the first when getting a seemingly over-amped Leiter a breather and time to adjust should have been a priority. Instead, he went to the mound in the second all but hyperventilating. The offense did manage three homers, but only after Leiter was long gone.

Before Bochy could come and get him, Leiter allowed another walk, a double steal, a run-scoring single to Giménez and the coup de grace, an 0-2 homer to Josh Naylor. The manager was on his way out of the dugout before the ball landed.

“It just comes down to execution,” Leiter said. “I didn’t execute like I know I can. It’s frustrating that I let the team down. It sucks. But you have to live with it. You have to get up the next morning and right this thing.”

It has been three dizzying weeks. He was called up to make a spot start at Detroit on April 18, then returned to the minors the next day. Two weeks later, he was called back up as the 27th man to start Game 2 of a doubleheader against Oakland. And, then, by rule, he had to be returned to the minors. He rejoined the Rangers on Monday.

Leiter has allowed 19 runs (17 earned) in just 9.1 innings over three starts. A 16.39 ERA. He has allowed six walks and three homers, both signs of his lack of command. His misses out of the zone aren’t competitive and too many misses in the zone are being driven into the seats. In his minor league career, Leiter allowed an average of five walks per nine innings and 1.5 homers.

Leiter has allowed 19 runs (17 earned) in just 9.1 innings over three starts. A 16.39 ERA. He has allowed six walks and three homers, both signs of his lack of command. His misses out of the zone aren’t competitive and too many misses in the zone are being driven into the seats. In his minor league career, Leiter allowed an average of five walks per nine innings and 1.5 homers.

The run total is the second most runs allowed by a Rangers pitcher over the first three games of his career. The silver lining: The top five includes Tommy Hunter, Edinson Volquez and Matt Harrison, all of whom became successful big league pitchers. In time.

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Leiter did not use the frenetic stretch as an excuse for his performance. He was more focused on what he needs to do to fix things.

“This is part of it; it comes with the territory,” he said. “It’s just frustrating that I haven’t been able to help the team as much as I’m capable of. I just want to do what I need to do to get better.”

Easy or not, the Rangers are World Champs — they handed out the replica rings to prove it —  and the bar is higher when they call a player up. They’ve given Leiter three chances. Things have gotten worse, not better.

If the club has need for a fifth starter again in the short-term, it’s likely to look in a different direction, even though options are sparse.

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Leiter simply isn’t ready yet.

Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant

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