NASHVILLE, Tenn. — How does Jack Leiter do it?
How does one of the top prospects in all of baseball, the son of a former Major League Baseball star, keep level-headed? Stay grounded? Act as though not everyone in the ballpark knows who he is?
“I guess it sounds cliché, but it’s really true, I don’t really think about all of that stuff,” Leiter said. “And I wasn’t always the guy on the field that you talked about. Having that in my memory I kind of go with that mentality.
“I guess I still think of myself as an undersized, right-handed pitcher.”
Leiter is on the precipice of his second season with Vanderbilt baseball – although it will be his first full campaign after COVID-19 shortened the 2020 season to just 18 games for Vanderbilt. It could also be Leiter’s last go-round with Vandy as he is eligible for the 2021 MLB Draft in July.
A confluence of the past, present and future has been woven through his young life for some time now. That will be no different this spring as the 20-year-old continues to make a name and legacy for himself.
An Offseason of One’s Own
Leiter was incredibly upset at the turn of events in March when COVID-19 caused the cancelation of the 2020 baseball season. But, he said, that sadness was felt more so for his teammates and coaches, some of whom would never wear the black and gold again, than strictly for the end of his own rookie campaign with the Commodores.
When the dust settled from those turbulent first few days after a now-canceled season, Leiter had returned to his home in Summit, New Jersey, and began to have a new outlook on the months ahead.
“I sort of saw it as a blessing in disguise, a time to really work on some things, both mechanically and also just with the addition of certain pitches and things of that nature,” Leiter said. “I kind of took the next month or two after that March off and really just focused on my time in the weight room, getting stronger and the important things for a pitcher like arm care, working the small muscles that are really important in the pitching delivery.”
In discussions with Vanderbilt associate head coach Scott Brown, Leiter knew he had to improve how he managed the lower half of his motion in order to create a more effortless delivery. Leiter also continued to work in the weight room and train in his basement during the cold and snowy days in the Northeast.
Eventually, Leiter began to connect with former high school teammates and current college players from the area. They wanted to hit quality pitching and Leiter wanted to challenge himself against dangerous hitters.
Anthony Volpe, a former Vanderbilt commitment and current prospect in the New York Yankees’ system, Danny Serretti, a shortstop at the University of North Carolina, and Nolan Jones, the No. 1-ranked prospect in the Cleveland organization, were just a few of the men who stepped in the batter’s box to face Leiter this offseason.
“I built up like I would build up for a normal season, so it was over a bunch of weeks – just sort of a progression of both volume and intensity of throwing,” Leiter said. “Once I got to the point where I felt like I was game ready to throw in games I started facing hitters and I would say I probably simulated five or six starts or outings once I got going.”
If all that wasn’t impressive enough, Leiter began to improve his changeup to add to his fastball-curveball-slider arsenal. Oh, then one day former Vandy star Austin Martin (now with the Toronto Blue Jays) texted Leiter and asked if the kid knew how to throw a cutter?
So now Leiter can whip that out when he wants to as well.
“I sort of thought about it and what that would look like and it kind of made sense to me,” Leiter said. “I think it’s a fun pitch to show so I’ve added that as well.”
The Leiter Ladies
Much is known about Leiter’s relationship with his father.
Al Leiter won 162 games as a pitcher during a 19-year MLB career that included two All Star appearances and two World Series rings. His post-playing career has included work as a studio analyst for MLB Network, the YES Network and Fox Sports Florida.
The elder Leiter has also more often that not spoken on behalf of his only son when it comes to his pitching successes and his future plans.
Leiter and his father have a special and unique bond. Al still charts Jack’s pitches during outings so the two can go back the next day and study the psyche of why a pitch was thrown and when.
Jack also said the two have an understanding of when to study – and when to not.
“He does a really good job of staying away when he senses that. If I don’t want to talk, he knows it,” Jack said. “If the outing didn’t go my way and I’m not in the mood to talk, he knows it and he’ll maybe bring it up after a few days and then we’ll have that conversation.”
When it comes to things not baseball related? Enter the Leiter ladies.
That’s mom Lori and sisters Lindsay, Carly and Katelyn. There are the two female dogs at the house as well.
“That’s definitely made him more of a sensitive person because he has had all that around him,” Carly joked.
Carly Leiter may take a smidge more pride in her brother’s success than her siblings. After all, the equity and portfolio specialist at Bloomberg herself graduated from Vanderbilt in the spring of 2019 – one semester before little brother came to Nashville.
She and her sisters and parents had the fortune of returning to New Jersey last winter at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jack was home, too, and the family was together under one roof for the first time in a long time.
“Watching him as he’s grown has been amazing,” Carly said. “I think he’s the hardest worker I’ve ever met – and I’m not just saying that because he’s my brother.
“In the winter he would just be working out in the basement every day. Just to see his dedication and see how much he has improved even in the past few years, I’m just so proud of him – I know we all are.”
Jack credits his sisters a lot for his maturation and for his character as a person. But the guiding force that is his mother is on a pedestal unto itself.
A former lawyer, Lori Leiter means the world to her son.
“She’s the best,” Jack said. “I always say if I want advice on a curve ball or my mechanics I’m obviously going to go to my dad for that, but anything else, whether it’s from a life standpoint looking for advice or whether it was help on homework in high school, my mom is always the go-to.
“Some of her qualities and traits that she has I really strive to come close to, really. She’s the best listener that I’ve ever met and that I know and she’s so caring and kind and thoughtful. So from an advice standpoint, she’s had the most contribution from anyone in my life.”