Texas Rangers call up former Vanderbilt star, top pick Jack Leiter
The Texas Rangers have announced that they are calling up Jack Leiter, a former Vanderbilt Commodores star pitcher and their first round pick from the 2021 overall draft to the major leagues.
Leiter was the second overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft following a phenomenal career at Vanderbilt. He started the 2024 season playing at the Triple-A level. In 14.1 innings at that level this season, he has 25 strikeouts. In that time, he also has a 3.77 ERA.
Along with the announcement that Jack Leiter is going to get called up to the MLB level, it was also announced that he’s going to start the Rangers’ game on Thursday. That will be a road start against the Detroit Tigers, in the final game of the two teams’ four-game set.
While at Vanderbilt, Jack Leiter had a career 2.08 ERA. That came in 22 games, 21 of which were starts, and 125.2 innings pitched during his college career.
Leiter’s college career was full of incredible memories for Vanderbilt fans, with Leiter sharing a rotation with Kumar Rocker, another first round pick. One of the best moments for him was his 16-strikeout no-hitter against South Carolina. In the 2021 season, Vanderbilt was also the runner-up in the College World Series.
In the 2021 MLB Draft, only catcher Henry Davis was taken ahead of Jack Leiter when the Pittsburgh Pirates took him first overall. For his part, Davis first made it to the majors in 2023.
He made his debut in the Texas Rangers system in 2022 with the Frisco RoughRiders, the team’s Double-A affiliate, and became the team’s 2022 All-Star Futures Game representative. He would go on to make his Triple-A debut with the Round Rock Express in 2023. However, he did miss two months in 2023 on the development list.
In 2024, Jack Leiter participated in Rangers Spring Training. There, he had a 4.26 ERA in 12.2 innings pitched. He also struck out eight batters. However, he didn’t make it on the MLB coming out of Spring, instead starting in the minors.
Jack Leiter comes from an MLB family. His father is Al Leiter, who pitched 19 seasons at the MLB level for four different teams. In that time, he threw a no-hitter, won three World Series, and is in the Mets Hall of Fame. On top of that, his uncle Mark Leiter was also a major league player while his cousin Mark Leiter Jr. currently plays for the Chicago Cubs.