On the Leiter side, this was quite a collegiate debut.
Jack Leiter, the son of former Yankees and Mets pitcher Al Leiter, struck out 12 of the 16 batters he faced over five no-hit innings in his first start for Vanderbilt in a 3-0 win over South Alabama on Tuesday night in Nashville.
“I don’t know if I expected it, but I was confident knowing the guys we have out there behind me,” Jack Leiter told reporters after the game. “It was just awesome playing in front of the home crowd, playing back in Nashville, and starting the home stand with some wins.”
Leiter was drafted by the Yankees in the 20th round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Delbarton High School in Morristown, NJ, but scouts projected him to be selected in the first round had he not informed teams prior to the draft that he expected to attend college.
The righty recently was tabbed by Baseball America as the No. 1 incoming freshman in the country after posting 74 strikeouts and a 0.84 ERA over 43 innings during his senior year in high school.
Al Leiter, who was in attendance at his son’s debut, also was drafted by the Yankees in 1984 and pitched 19 years in the majors, including seven seasons with the Mets from 1998 to 2004. He currently works for the Mets as a baseball operations adviser and for MLB Network as an analyst.
“I couldn’t be more proud of my son today. @jackleiter22 debut as a @VanderbiltU baseball player. What a way to start his @VandyBoys journey,” Al Leiter wrote on Twitter. “Very cool for me to watch his first outing in person …his performance was way better than anything I’ve ever done. #proudpapa.”
Al Leiter’s brother Mark also pitched in the major leagues, as did Mark Leiter Jr. Al’s nephew underwent Tommy John surgery in March of last year after pitching in 2018 for Philadelphia and Toronto.