One of the most painful moments in recent Florida State baseball history was the 2024 team losing in the College World Series against Tennessee. An umpire missing a clear check swing call helped put Florida State in the losers' bracket, making it very difficult to run the table.
One thing a team needs in that situation is outstanding pitching, and Florida State had one of the best arms in college baseball, unavailable for most of that year in Cam Leiter.
Leiter transferred to Florida State from UCF after his freshman season and established himself as the Friday night starter for the Noles. However, he only started seven games with the Noles before missing the rest of that season and all of the 2025 season due to an injury.
There were rampant rumors about the injury, whether he would pitch again at Florida State, or not. I’m not qualified to speak on those, but Leiter was selected in the 2025 MLB Draft with the No. 65 pick (2nd-round). He didn’t play in the minor leagues last summer, likely continuing to rehab from the injury. However, he’s appeared in seven games in High-A ball and has been playing well:
Cam Leiter returned today.
— DodgersLite (@dodgerslite) May 20, 2026
2.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER (1 R), 1 BB, 2 K, 44 PC (50% SR)
Fastball velocity hovered at around 95-98 mph. Since he skipped a start, his command was slightly off today. However, he still made the most out of it. Pitch count is still limited to 40-50. pic.twitter.com/RPmuVEIE7Q
Cam Leiter and Jamie Arnold pitching in the postseason would have given any team Florida State faced nightmares.
It appears he’s still on a lower pitch count, but you can see he has filthy stuff. That’s what Florida State fans got a glimpse of in the seven games he pitched in. Leiter has a 2.40 ERA, with 22 strikeouts and five walks in 15 innings this year.
A starting pitcher with that caliber of stuff can be a difference-maker, and definitely would have given Florida State a better chance to win that elusive national title in baseball in 2024, because their offense had some mashers for sure.
The injury to Leiter seems to have made Florida State head coach Link Jarrett much more cautious with how the pitching staff handles pitchers. Florida State was one out away from returning to the College World Series in 2025 and is fighting to see what seed they will have in postseason play. A strong run in the ACC Tournament would go a long way in securing a top-eight national seed, which would give FSU an easier path to the CWS.
Florida State already has one "what if" situation going back to losing Myles Bailey for the season a couple of months ago. It's always good to see former players do well, but it stings even more when you didn't get to enjoy their talent as much as you'd like when they wore the garnet and gold.
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