Former Vanderbilt Commodores standout Jack Leiter makes his Major League debut on Thursday as he gets the start on the mound for the Texas Rangers, who are on the road facing the Detroit Tigers.
Texas Rangers vs. Detroit Tigers (-112, 8.5)
Leiter was the second pick of the 2021 MLB Draft and has shown to be a strikeout artist at the lower levels.
In his three appearances at the AAA level this season, Leiter owns a 3.77 with 15.7 strikeouts to just 1.9 walks per nine innings and overall in his time in the minor leagues, Leiter has a strikeouts per nine innings rate of 11.6.
Leiter faces a Tigers lineup that entered Wednesday with the second-fewest home runs per game of any team in Major League Baseball with 3.5 runs per game or 26th in the league.
The Rangers back up Leiter with a lineup that entered Wednesday 12th in the league with just over 4.9 runs per game and will look to continue the struggles of Tigers starter Kenta Maeda.
Maeda owns a 6.00 ERA and 6.58 fielding independent through three starts this season, giving up four home runs in 15 innings pitched and dating back to the 2023 season, has allowed at least three earned runs in six of his last 10 regular season starts.
While the Tigers enter Thursday with the league’s best bullpen ERA, the struggles of Maeda and the lineup will be too much for the Tigers to overcome and will make Leiter a winner in his MLB debut.
The Play: Rangers -108
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