Former No. 2 overall pick Jack Leiter had one of the best games of his young career in his outing on Sunday against the Houston Astros, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning. During an appearance on MLB Central on Monday night alongside his father, former MLB pitcher Al Leiter, the father-son duo shared some of the adjustments in his pitching mechanics that made his great game possible.
Jack Leiter started his appearance on MLB Central by discussing his upbringing with a father in the MLB, which came with its fair share of perks, like getting to meet all the stars and sit behind the scenes on MLB Network in the past.
Once the conversation shifted to his play on the field, Al Leiter was coaxed from behind the scenes to help break down some of his son’s mechanical shifts that have yielded success.
“A couple of years ago, he was a little too early in terms of glove-side closed. So, I was a stickler, as you know, coming in here talking about how the number one red flag for Tommy John was being later at foot contact. Because when you land, you had better be ready to throw. A lot of these guys who aren’t ready to throw, the onus comes on their elbow. So for the little guys, I’ve got drills with him. I hate to do this, but Jack, take over, try to get your arm out sooner so that your chest and body takes your arm along for the ride. So that was the thing when he was like ten. What happened was he got bigger and stronger, and he got earlier.”
Jack Leiter then took over the visual demonstration for fans watching at home, outlining how an upright stance before his wind-up and staying more square to the plate helped his approach on the mound.
“Yeah, there were a lot of exercises. There was a PVC pipe (drill), kind of focusing on keeping my shoulders square when I come set and staying closed when I go down the mound. And basically, thinking tall posture and down the mounds instead of flying open. Because if you start more open, you aren’t going to throw being open the whole time. I was always thinking to start more closed, stay closed sooner. And that was kind of causing the swing, to be open early. There is a million exercises you can do. But the bottom line is, instead of getting swingy around, I’m trying to be up and down, north-south with my throw.”
How about a father/son pitching breakdown on #MLBCentral?!@AlLeiter22 crashes the party to talk through @jackleiter22‘s evolution on the mound and more! https://t.co/CDSlztzvNJ pic.twitter.com/ZoSKB3GXon
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) May 19, 2025
Jack has a long way to go to reach the kind of heights that his dad has at the MLB level. But he knows quite a bit about the correct pitching mechanics, or at least the ones that work for him.
Given how well-spoken Jack is, maybe he will have the chance to follow in his dad’s footsteps in another sense by becoming a broadcaster in the future, as Al has been a studio analyst at MLB Network since 2009.
