Dodgers Pick Central Alum Cam Leiter in MLB Draft

Cam Leiter has not pitched in game action since March 28, 2024 and his injury-related absence might have cost him a chance to hear his name called in the first round of the 2025 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

It turns out, sliding under the radar has its perks.

The reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers selected Leiter with the final pick of the second round — No. 65 overall — Sunday during day one of the 2025 Draft, potentially adding the Florida State right-hander and Central Regional alumnus to a farm system widely considered to be among the best in MLB, assuming Leiter signs a contract.

Leiter missed the entire 2025 season at Florida State while recovering from shoulder surgery performed by Dr. Keith Meister in October of 2024. On Tuesday, Leiter threw a bullpen for scouts from more than 20 MLB clubs and maxed out at 96 miles-per-hour, which was his first showcase for scouts since his final outing of 2024.

“It went really well,” Leiter said after finishing the session at the Boras Corp complex in Miami. “I hit a 96 (miles-per-hour), my secondaries had some good properties, good shape and I just felt really comfortable.

“I just wanted to let teams know that I’m still alive and still pitching.”

In his final start of 2024, Leiter struck out 12 in 5 2/3 innings and hit 98 miles-per-hour on the radar gun in an 8-3 Seminoles win over Louisville. Shoulder discomfort shut down his season and the injury lingered through the summer and into the fall, when Leiter underwent surgery.

Leiter landed at Florida State after pitching his freshman season at the University of Central Florida. Leiter got off to a slow start before catching fire over his final eight starts of his freshman season. He pitched to a 2.57 ERA with 51 strikeouts, 20 walks and 24 hits allowed in 35 innings to close out the season and then entered the transfer portal looking move into one of the power conferences.

As a high school player, Leiter played two seasons at Central Regional, where he was a two-time All-Shore selection by Shore Sports Network and won the 2022 Shore Sports Network Player of the Year. In his senior year with the Golden Eagles, Leiter went 4-4 in 47 innings with 23 hits, 21 walks, 88 strikeouts and a 0.89 ERA on the mound. He was also a force in the batter’s box, hitting .489, 11 doubles, eight home runs and a single-season school RBI record of 34.

With two of his cousins already in the Major Leagues, Cam is the third pitcher from the second generation of Leiters to be drafted. Mark Leiter Jr. was a 22nd round pick of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2013 and Jack Leiter was the No. 2 overall pick out of Vanderbilt by the Texas Rangers in 2022. Mark Leiter Jr. is currently on the injured list with the New York Yankees, while Jack is in the Rangers starting rotation.

Cam’s father, Kurt, pitched at Oklahoma State and signed as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Orioles out of college, making it as far as Double-A. Kurt’s two younger brothers — Mark Sr. and Al — reached the Major Leagues and enjoyed careers that spanned more than a decade. Al Leiter is a two-time all-star and the all-time MLB leading in strikeouts by a player from New Jersey.

“He does stuff on the mound that none of us could do,” Kurt said of Cam. “Athletically, he does some things that I don’t think everybody sees, but they are next-level. His mechanics are almost flawless. And he is better mentally than us, speaking of me and my brothers. It’s at the point that, when we talk about pitching, I’m listening to him now.”

Cam’s father and uncles all graduated from Central Regional and Cam was the first of his generation within the Leiter family to play baseball and graduate from Central. Cam was born Tampa, Fla. and spent most of his childhood in the Vancouver area of British Columbia before moving back to New Jersey to attend Central during his sophomore season in 2019-20.

The suggested slot value for the No. 65 pick, according to MLB.com, is a $1.65 million signing bonus.