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The Texas Rangers have been looking forward to having Jack Leiter in the starting rotation since they made him the No. 2 pick of the 2021 draft.

That day has arrived. Leiter will make his major league debut in the finale of a four-game series at Detroit on Thursday afternoon.

Leiter earned the call-up from Triple-A Round Rock by posting a 3.77 ERA in 14 1/3 innings with 25 strikeouts while issuing only three walks.

“He’s been throwing the ball very well down there,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “What a great time to call him up because he’s been throwing well, and again, he’s earned this.”

“I told him when he left [spring training] that we’re going to need him, and I loved the way he was throwing,” Bochy added. “I don’t think anybody thought we’d make the changes we’ve made already pretty early in the season. But still, [Leiter] really came on at the end and was throwing strikes, the command, all that. I’m looking forward to watching him.”

Bochy was referring to some early-season injuries. Cody Bradford, who had won his first three starts, joined three other rotation members — Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Tyler Mahle — on the injured list.

Leiter, the son of former major leaguer Al Leiter, joined the Rangers on a $7.789 million signing bonus after dominating in college at Vanderbilt. However, Leiter didn’t exactly cruise through the minors.

The right-hander posted a 3-10 record and a 5.54 ERA in 23 appearances (22 starts) in 2022. He had a combined 2-6 record and 5.07 ERA in 19 starts at the Double-A level last season, along with one start at Round Rock.

“I had some shaky starts [at Vanderbilt] obviously, it’s pitching, but nothing like what I went through my first two years in the minor leagues,” Leiter told the Dallas Morning News. “I really am grateful for it. Even while I was going through it, people were telling me, ‘It’s going to make you better, it’s going to make you better.'”

Kenta Maeda (0-1, 6.00 ERA) will start the finale of an eight-game homestand for Detroit.

Maeda will be making his fourth start since joining the Tigers as a free agent during the offseason. His last outing against Minnesota on Saturday was his best.

He held the Twins to two runs (one earned) and five hits in six innings. He didn’t issue a walk while recording five strikeouts.

Maeda is 2-0 with a 3.32 ERA in five career outings (four starts) against Texas.

The Tigers will be looking to salvage a split in the series. The Rangers pulled out a 5-4 victory on Wednesday afternoon. Josh Smith drove in the deciding run in the ninth with a pinch-hit double.

Detroit made three errors, all of which proved costly.

“We didn’t play clean, which is obvious but that’s not always recognizable on the scoreboard with errors,” manager AJ Hinch said. “Today it was. And they took advantage of every error. They didn’t let us get away with it. That was the difference. They scored every time we made a mistake and in a one-run game, everything matters.”

–Field Level Media