Jack Leiter discusses recent graduation from Vanderbilt

Jack Leiter was dominant for Vanderbilt and got the job done on the baseball diamond. He made it as far as the College World Series championship series, pairing an elite one-two duo with Kumar Rocket. But when Leiter left early in favor of the MLB Draft, he never got to finish his degree.

You can now check that off the list for Leiter, spending the offseason to officially graduate from Vanderbilt. A few steps were still required to walk across the stage, including an internship where Leiter worked in the sports agency field. He can now call himself a college graduate though, and from one of the nation’s top institutions.

“That was one of the side things I wanted to accomplish,” Leiter said. “Finished that. Kind of tucked that diploma away and pretty happy about that.”

Leiter got his degree in Human and Organizational Development, which led a reporter to ask if he wanted to pick up an MBA at a local DFW school. Reacting with a laugh, it seems as if Leiter is ready to put his sole focus back into baseball.

“I’m good on education for now,” Leiter said.

Jack Leiter hoping for big season with Texas Rangers

The 2024 season will be a big one for Leiter, maybe having the opportunity to make his Major League debut at some point. However, consistency will have to improve to get called up to the Texas Rangers — his biggest flaw from a year ago.

In 20 games in AA Frisco, Leiter threw 81.2 innings, allowing 67 hits, 14 home runs, 47 walks, and striking out 110 batters. Putting back-to-back quality outings was an issue as he adapts to professional baseball.

Once heralded as one of the best prospects in baseball, the Minor Leagues have been a rocky road. His mindset heading into Spring Training is one of moving on to the next season.

“Obviously there’s ups and downs that come with any career path you choose to take and this one is no different,” Leiter said. “I would say I’m just handling the obstacles and realizing that it’s a one day at a time mindset, one pitch at a time mindset.

“As long as you can look back each year and say, ‘I’ve made a lot of progress,’ then you can sleep at night. I definitely put the work in and at this point I’ve definitely moved on. I’m onto this year and I’m very excited about it.”