PITTSBURGH \u2014 Surrounded by droves of appropriate imagery, Jack Leiter continued his season-long hunt for the metaphorical buried treasure that could best unlock his abilities on the mound.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of just the elusive strikeout pitch,\u201d the Texas Rangers’ rookie right-handed pitcher said Sunday. \u201cFinding where the sweet spot to put it is to where it\u2019s not a ball in play and it\u2019s also not a ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Sunday, in an 8-3 series finale loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park, Leiter continued a worrisome trend and swung too far in either direction in leverage counts and failed to capitalize on advantages that he\u2019d built early in at bats.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old allowed three runs on five hits, two walks and two strikeouts but lasted just four innings after his pitch count climbed too high on a hot Western Pennsylvania day. That, paired with another offensive clunker in which the Texas lineup failed to produce with runners on, cost the Rangers a shot at a sweep and a chance to bring a .500 record into a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles.<\/p>\n
Pitchers have both theoretical and legitimate advantages in two-strike counts. The average hitter leaguewide has a .251 on base percentage in two-strike counts this season. Against Leiter, though, batters have a .323 on base percentage. It\u2019s the ninth-worst mark among all qualified pitchers, and in Sunday\u2019s game, the Pirates reached base in two-strike counts vs. Leiter at a .357 clip.<\/p>\n
More than one third (31 of 88) of Leiter\u2019s pitches came with two strikes already in the count. It took Leiter an average of 2.3 pitches to finish each of the 13 two-strike plate appearances that he worked himself into.<\/p>\n
Five of those ended in either a walk or hit and just two \u2014 Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the second inning and Nick Gonzalez in the fourth \u2014 ended via a strikeout. The average pitcher has a 41.2% strikeout percentage in two-strike counts. Leiter\u2019s is 34.9% and, on Sunday, it was a woeful 15.3%.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got great stuff,\u201d Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. \u201cVelocity, slider, curveball, changeup. He\u2019s just got to get it over the plate or at least closer to the plate. That\u2019s what I think he\u2019ll look back at and realize \u2018Hey, I\u2019ve got the stuff to attack with two strikes, too.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The inability to finish plate appearances can, at its least harmful, recklessly drive up a pitch count. Leiter pitched a scoreless first and second inning but needed 47 pitches to do so on a humid day. It was just the 13th game that the Rangers have played with a first-pitch temperature of 90 degrees or greater since Globe Life Field opened five years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I kind of left the guys out there in the field too long,\u201d Leiter said. \u201cIt kind of goes against the game plan on a hot day of wanting to get the guys back in the dugout as quick as possible. I only really did that in one of my four innings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drawn-out at bats can, at their most harmful, give hitters too many opportunities to capitalize on mistakes and identify pitches. Leiter allowed three consecutive two-strike singles to Joey Bart, Spencer Horwitz and Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes in the fourth inning on fastballs in the strike zone to plate Pittsburgh\u2019s first run. Tommy Pham tied the game at 2-2 in the at bat after Hayes with a sacrifice fly.<\/p>\n
Leiter and Bochy did not necessarily think the fastballs were poorly located, but, seven of the eight off-speed and breaking pitches he threw in those three at bats were out of the zone. To Leiter, \u201cit got to predictable points\u201d where the Pirates could sit on his fastball.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of them were non-competitive pitches where they won\u2019t chase,\u201d Bochy said. \u201cWhen you show that many pitches to hitters consistently, now they\u2019re getting a read on you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leiter faced just one batter in the fifth inning before Bochy pulled him in favor of long reliever Caleb Boushley. He had a 1-2 advantage vs. Oneil Cruz but walked him on three consecutive pitches below the zone to start the frame. It kickstarted a five-run inning and sunk the Rangers \u2014 who\u2019ve not come back from any deficit larger than two runs this season \u2014 into a 7-2 hole.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely frustrating,\u201d Leiter said. \u201cI recognize that I need to be better and put these guys in a better position to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
In conclusion, Jack Leiter’s struggle to find the elusive strikeout pitch has been a major concern for the Texas Rangers. His inability to finish plate appearances and capitalize on advantages in two-strike counts has led to high pitch counts and a lack of success on the mound. With the help of his manager and coaches, Leiter will need to work on improving his performance in these areas in order to reach his full potential as a pitcher.<\/p>\n
A: The main issue with Jack Leiter’s pitching is his inability to find the elusive strikeout pitch and finish plate appearances, particularly in two-strike counts.<\/p>\n
A: Leiter’s performance in two-strike counts has been poor, with a .323 on base percentage against him, which is the ninth-worst mark among all qualified pitchers.<\/p>\n
A: High pitch counts can recklessly drive up Leiter’s pitch count, leading to early exits from games and putting more pressure on the Rangers’ bullpen.<\/p>\n
A: Leiter needs to work on improving his ability to finish plate appearances and capitalize on advantages in two-strike counts, as well as reducing his pitch count by being more efficient on the mound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jack Leiter’s Struggle to Find the Elusive Strikeout Pitch PITTSBURGH \u2014 Surrounded by droves of appropriate imagery, Jack Leiter continued his season-long hunt for the metaphorical buried treasure that could best unlock his abilities on the mound. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of just the elusive strikeout pitch,\u201d the Texas Rangers’ rookie right-handed pitcher said Sunday. \u201cFinding where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":8040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8039","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/U33ORLABCNDK5HRUJTSK6KQ3VU.jpg?auth=4dcd9a0be4314fbc8009437ebfeb649368da7b9a9d5ef4dd819447ddefea1e12&height=630&width=1200&focal=1976,443&quality=80","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8039"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8039"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8041,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8039\/revisions\/8041"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}