Baseball America posted an article this morning noting how Vanderbilt could be the first school to ever produce the top two picks in the same draft. We have mentioned here that Vanderbilt pitchers Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter are considered to be two of the top possibilities for the first overall pick of the Pirates in the July amateur draft. In fact, I promised to add some more players next time we did one of these Draft Prospect articles, but this is sooner than I planned to do one. Then they took on the #12 team in the country this weekend and combined for 30 strikeouts. Oh yeah, Leiter threw a no-hitter in his game. We still have almost four months until the draft, so a lot can change between now and then, but right now the two best draft picks are pitching for Vanderbilt in back-to-back games each weekend. Here are some highlight videos courtesy of pitchingninja (follow him on Twitter, you won’t regret it, unless you’re a hitter showing up in his videos).
We start with Leiter, since he threw the no-hitter with 16 strikeouts.
Jack Leiter, 10th K. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/tE9VxdMxWo
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 7, 2021
and
Jack Leiter, 97mph on his 100th pitch.
12th K.
🤫 pic.twitter.com/vgHux2bi4Q
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 20, 2021
and
Jack Leiter, Slider & Fastball combo.
7th K thru 3. pic.twitter.com/bC0Cf9TRj8
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 20, 2021
and the final pitch
Jack Leiter. 16K No Hitter.
😳😳😳 pic.twitter.com/llqeBa7nrp— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 20, 2021
Here’s Rocker, starting with a fastball/cutter overlay
Kumar Rocker, 95mph Fastball and 88mph Cutter, Overlay pic.twitter.com/H2TXEuDrHV
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 20, 2021
Here’s all 14 of his strikeouts in one video
Kumar Rocker's 14 Ks vs. South Carolina. #TheBigCrave pic.twitter.com/Q7WQWrwl4B
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 20, 2021
I’m going to start the draft profiles soon, but at this point I’m not sure why we should cover anyone else…we will though, just in case.