Vanderbilt star pitcher Jack Leiter selected in first round of 2021 MLB Draft
By Andrew Olson
Published:
It didn’t take long for Jack Leiter to hear his name called Sunday night.
The Vanderbilt standout was picked No. 2 overall by the Texas Rangers in the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft. MLB.com lists the approximate pick value at $7.79 million.
Leiter entered the 2021 season expected to be a high draft pick as a consensus Preseason All-American. Leiter lived up to the hype, earning first-team All-SEC recognition as the conference’s Newcomer of the Year.
Leiter started the 2021 season strong, tossing the first regular-season, complete-game no-hitter in an SEC debut since 1971 against No. 16 South Carolina (March 20). The first batter reached with a base on balls before Leiter retired 27 straight, striking out 16 on 124 pitches. Leiter followed up the no-no against South Carolina with 7 no-hit innings against Missouri. Leiter had 20.2 consecutive innings before LSU finally registered a hit on April 2.
Leiter posted a 2.13 ERA over 110 innings this season, winning his first seven decisions and posting double-digit Ks in his first five SEC starts (March 20-April 17).
Another top-five pick under head coach @TimCorbin.#VandyBoys | #MLBDraft pic.twitter.com/LT3WWnlHk5
— Vanderbilt Baseball (@VandyBoys) July 11, 2021
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
