2025 Fantasy Baseball: Texas Rangers Closer Depth Chart
Sticking with the theme of the next upside relieving options in bullpens, I listed Jack Leiter and Alejandro Rosario as potential help to the Rangers' bullpen in 2025.
Jack Leiter's Nasty Stuff. pic.twitter.com/l8pjtxv7tk
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 15, 2024
RP – Jack Leiter, TEX
After an electric 22 games at Vanderbilt (13-4 with 201 strikeouts over 125.2 innings), the Rangers drafted Leiter second overall in the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft. He allowed only 53 hits, leading a difference-maker WHIP (0.844).
Unfortunately, Leiter battled walks (5.3 per nine) and home runs (1.4 per nine) over his first two seasons between AA and AAA, leading to a significant step back in his ERA (5.37) and WHIP (1.508). His strikeout rate (11.3) continued to be an asset.
His arm started to show promise in 2024 over 17 appearances at AAA (3.51 ERA, 1.260 WHIP, and 110 strikeouts over 77.0 innings). He struck out an impressive 12.9 batters per nine, with some improvement in his walk rate (4.1). Leiter was a batting practice machine in his first experience in the majors (35 runs, 61 base runners, and seven home runs over 35.2 innings with 31 strikeouts).
He featured a four-seamer and slider as his top two offerings while mixing in three low-usage pitches – curveball, changeup, and cutter. In the minors last season, four of his above options were challenging to hit (4F – .197 BAA with 55 strikeouts, SL – .232 BAA, curveball – .232 BAA, and changeup – .222 BAA).
Fantasy Outlook: The Texas Rangers need an elite arm in their bullpen, and Leiter has the fastball and breaking pitches to shine in shorter innings stints. Home runs and walks have been a problem in his time in professional baseball. A reliever opportunity would allow Leiter to develop confidence with Texas, with the goal of moving back into their starting rotation down the road.
The fantasy market caught a glimpse of his future over his first four starts at AAA (six runs, eight baserunners, and 33 strikeouts over 20.1 innings) in 2024. I’m keeping an open mind about his role/opportunity with the Rangers this spring. I say future closer while most of the fantasy market won’t even look beyond his poor 2024 starts with the Rangers.
5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 9 K for Alejandro Rosario in the @GoWoodDucks shutout win on Saturday.
— Rangers Player Development (@TEXPlayerDev) May 26, 2024
Rosario averaged 97 mph on his fastball and touched 100 over 80 pitches. pic.twitter.com/xiYm2jVWM5
RP – Alejandro Rosario, TEX
College batters didn’t treat Rosario well over his three seasons at Miami (FL), leading to a 6.47 ERA, 1.662 WHIP, and 198 strikeouts over 200.1 innings. He walked 4.2 batters per nine innings with a reasonable strikeout rate (8.9). The Rangers saw enough in his arm to draft him in the fifth round of the 2023 MLB June Amateur Draft.
With a winter off and some tinkering with mechanics and pitch mix, Rosario dominated A-ball and High-A last season. He went 4-5 with a 2.24 ERA, 0.928 WHIP, and 129 strikeouts over 88.1 innings. His walk rate (1.3) made an unbelievable turnaround, resulting in an explosive strikeout rate (13.1).
While at the University of Miami (FL), Rosario didn’t throw his split-finger pitch. The addition back to his arsenal created more swings and misses. His fastball sits in the mid-90s while mixing in a developing slider.
Fantasy Outlook: The Rangers should start Rosario out at AA in 2025. If his command repeats, he’ll move quickly through their minor league system with a chance to reach the major this summer. His resume of success is short, and making a jump up three more levels of batters will undoubtedly test his command and confidence. Rosario is an arm to follow this spring, as Texas can use any upgrade they can find in their bullpen.
Based on ADP, Chris Martin is the first Rangers reliever drafted in the high-stakes market in mid-February. At age 38, he has 14 career saves with excellent command (1.2 walks per nine over nine seasons in the majors). There is still a chance that Texas will resign David Robertson, who pitched well last year (3.00 ERA and 99 strikeouts over 72.0 innings), but Kirby Yates stole his closing opportunity. He’ll turn 40 in early April. The Rangers offered him $7 million in November, but Robertson decided to test the free agent market.
With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.