Dodgers draft the latest Leiter pitcher chasing MLB dreams

Billy Heyen

Dodgers draft the latest Leiter pitcher chasing MLB dreams image

Yes, Cam Leiter is from the Leiter family of pitchers.

And now he's a Los Angeles Dodgers second-round MLB Draft pick.

Let's get the relations out of the way first.

Cam Leiter is the son of Kurt Leiter, who pitched at Oklahoma State and then spent four seasons in the minor leagues.

Kurt is the brother of Al and Mark, MLB pitchers. That makes Cam the cousin of current Yankees reliever Mark Leiter Jr.

Cam Leiter is a right-handed pitcher from Florida State who started his college career at UCF.

MLB.com has good things to say about him:

"Leiter has a lot to offer a future Major League team," they write. "He's a big, physical 6-foot-5 right-hander with huge stuff. He has the chance to have four legitimate pitches, starting with an explosive fastball that he cranks up to 98 mph and averaged 95 mph last year, throwing it with excellent extension. His upper-80s slider is a true out pitch with huge spin and tilt. He can land his slower, 80-mph curve for strikes and has some feel for a changeup as well. The two main question marks surrounding Leiter are his ability to find the strike zone, with a 6.2 BB/9 rate over two years, and his health, which lead to some reliever risk concerns. It seems unclear what his prognosis is, with some talk of him pitching in the Cape Cod League for the first time this year ahead of the Draft. If he can return to the mound and show off that power stuff, he could still go in the top few rounds."

MORE: Why Nationals chose Eli Willits over Ethan Holliday at No. 1 overall pick

The Dodgers have had strong success with physically impressive pitchers with good stuff.

Leiter could be the next one, and if his pedigree is any indication, he'll probably make it.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle