Pittsburgh Pirates: Jack Leiter Could Become The Draft’s Best Prospect

Jack Leiter could surpass his Vanderbilt teammate Kumar Rocker as the likely top overall draft pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates in this summer’s draft

The Pittsburgh Pirates finished with a 19-41 record last season. Despite being the only team that finished with fewer than 20 wins, they have a bright outlook for the future. One way they could bring in a ton talent is the draft, and with the number one overall pick in this summer’s draft they’ll be looking to get a player with high potential.

This year’s draft is very pitcher heavy. Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter and Jaden Hill represent three of the best available players. At the end of 2020 it seemed that Vanderbilt ace Kumar Rocker was generally seen as the best player available. However, after Monday’s performances by Rocker and Leiter, the latter is starting to overtake the former.

Leiter pitched well in his short 15.2 inning sample size last season. He posted a 1.72 ERA, 2.08 FIP and 0.83 WHIP. The son of former MLB pitcher Al Leiter struck out 22 of the 60 batters he faced while not allowing a single home run.

Leiter uses a four pitch mix. That includes a fastball, change up, curveball and slider. Last season, they were all seen as 55+ grade offerings by some evaluators. Currently, MLB Pipeline grades all but his curveball a 55 because it has a 60-grade. The one knock on Leiter was that he wasn’t a hard thrower, mostly working in the low-90s.

But in his first game of the year, Leiter was averaging out in the high-90s while touching 100 MPH.

If he can consistently work in the upper-90s then he could be the easy pick, especially considering what he can do with his off speed and breaking pitches.

All told, Leiter pitched 5 innings in a double header vs Wright State, striking out 8 batters and only allowing one earned base runner, that being a single hit.

However, don’t count out Rocker just yet. There’s a reason he is seen as potentially the best player available. Rocker was outstanding in 2019 posting a 3.25 ERA, 1.98 FIP and 1.09 WHIP in 99.2 innings of work. Rocker allowed just two home runs while having a 5.1% walk rate and 27.5% strikeout rate. This was all capped off with a no-hitter in the College World Series.

Rocker’s bread and butter is his fastball and slider. These are both seen as 65-grade pitches by MLB Pipeline and for a good reason. His fastball can reach into the upper-90s while his slider does this:

However, what comes into question is his other offerings and his overall command. He’ll occasionally throw in a change up, but it’s not nearly on par with his fastball and slider. His command can get a bit spotty at times. In the first game of the double header, Rocker went 4 innings, striking out 8 batters, but walked 3 of the 16 batters he faced. But he is working on his change up while also adding a cutter to his mix, which did look pretty good.

Between the two, if Leiter can maintain that velocity up until the draft, then I think he’s the automatic pick. Rarely do you come across a player who already has a four pitch mix where all of their offerings are considered above average in the draft.

Regardless of who the Pittsburgh Pirates draft with the top pick in this summer’s draft, they should be landing a potential future ace. Also, odds are, this potential future ace of the Pittsburgh Pirates will be coming to the organization from Vanderbilt.