COLUMBIA, Mo. – Jack Leiter gets into the habit of being stingy on the mound and impeccable on the scoreboard.
Vanderbilt’s sophomore right-hander threw seven unsuccessful innings in the Commodores’ 11-3 win over Missouri on Friday night, after pitching a new nine-inning game last Saturday against South Carolina.
The scary part? Leiter said he didn’t even think he had the “A” material in his last two starts.
“I didn’t have all my throws today where I like them, and I think that’s encouraging for me,” he told SportsCenter Friday night. “There’s always things to work on, and that’s the fun part of the launch.”
The son of former big league pitcher Al Leiter is ESPN’s MLS No. 2. The second year he eliminated 10 and walked two against Missouri. He hasn’t allowed any success since he gave up two in the fifth inning against Oklahoma State on March 13, a 2/3 inning of 16 innings.
Leiter said he understood manager Tim Corbin’s decision to withdraw him on Friday despite being two innings away from his second non-consecutive game, and described his conversation before the eighth inning as “quite kind”.
When asked what Corbin told him, Leiter told SportsCenter, “It was, ‘Great job, I’m looking for you here in the long run, it’s a long season, it’s still early in the season.’ understand completely. Of course I was tired, you’re always tired and always looking to go further. I wanted to throw the whole game, of course. But I understood. “
Leiter are 6-0 with an ERA of 0.25, 59 strikeouts and 13 starts in six outings (36 innings) this season. He has allowed just one run won and seven hits.
Leiter, 20, earned 16 wins in a 5-0 win over South Carolina last week as he retired his last 27 batters after allowing a walk to get out of the game.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have the top pick in this draft, followed by the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox.
Leiter’s teammate Kumar Rocker, son of former NFL defender Tracy Rocker, is No. 3 in ESPN’s latest MLB ranking. The junior right-hander improved to 6-0 with an ERA of 0.73 after allowing two runs (one win) and five hits with five strikeouts and two runs in six innings in a 10-2 win over Missouri on Thursday night .
The information from The Associated Press was used in this report.