Al Leiter put together a tremendous 19-year major-league career, with two All-Star Game selections, three World Series titles, and a 3.80 ERA over 2,391 innings pitched. And the MLB Network analyst has a son that seems to be on the verge of a heck of a pitching career as well.
Jack Leiter, 19, made his college baseball debut for Vanderbilt vs South Alabama on Tuesday, and it went quite well. The freshman right-hander (even though his dad was a lefty) threw five scoreless innings, allowed zero hits and one walk, and struck out 12 in Vanderbilt’s 3-0 victory. Complete dominance and filth.
The final line for @jackleiter22:
5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 K, 80 pitches
🖥 https://t.co/PrbEuNi2NW
#VandyBoys | #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/woQJk3oySa— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) February 19, 2020
Jack Leiter's college debut for Vandy: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 SO, 52 strikes in 80 pitches.
Hard to do much better in your first game.
— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) February 19, 2020
Jack Leiter's 12Ks/5IP in 30 seconds. pic.twitter.com/MrdeYIRLMc
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) February 19, 2020
While nobody could expect that kind of performance out of the gate from a freshman, evaluators of college baseball and the MLB Draft certainly aren’t shocked.
If you're gonna have a curveball, have Jack Leiter's curveball. #NHSI19 #MLBDraft pic.twitter.com/JGFxtBCGt9
— Josh Norris 🐻 (@jnorris427) April 5, 2019
The New York Yankees — the team Al began and finished his career with — even drafted Jack in the 20th round of the 2019 draft, while being aware of his intentions to attend Vanderbilt.
20 (615): @Yankees select Delbarton School (NJ) P Jack Leiter. https://t.co/xFj1C3ZSUe #MLBDraft
— MLB Draft Tracker (@MLBDraftTracker) June 5, 2019
Leiter entered the season as Baseball America’s top freshman prospect, and No. 2 on Baseball America’s top 2021 MLB Draft college prospects. And the only 2021 college prospect currently ranked ahead of Leiter for the 2021 draft? That would be a sophomore in Vanderbilt’s rotation, Kumar Rocker.
The Commodores are set up to have a great chance to repeat as College World Series champions in 2020.
