51.9 F
Pittsburgh

Pirates Claim Left-Handed Pitcher Jack Leathersich from Cubs

Published:

The Pittsburgh Pirates have claimed 27-year-old left-handed relief pitcher Jack Leathersich off waivers from the Chicago Cubs. The Pirates already had an open spot on their 40-man roster, so no additional move needs to be made. Leathersich has been assigned to Indianapolis.

Leathersich has pitched parts of two seasons in the majors, 2015 with the New York Mets and 2017 for the Cubs. He had a 2.31 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 11.2 innings over 17 appearances with the Mets. He pitched once for the Cubs back on July 6th and allowed two runs, while recording just two outs. That was his only appearance in the majors this season. He has made just one career start in seven seasons of pro ball.

Playing in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League for Iowa, which isn’t as bad for pitchers as most of the west coast teams in the league, Leathersich has a 2.84 ERA in 44.1 innings over 41 appearances, while striking out 72 batters. He has a 1.20 WHIP, a .167 BAA and a low 0.69 GO/AO ratio. Those numbers are in line with his career stats, where he has had a high strikeout rate, slightly high walk rate and a low ground ball rate.

Leathersich has one option remaining after this season, so he is a player who could still around next year as Triple-A depth. He missed the end of 2015 and start of 2016 due to Tommy John surgery, so this is his first full year back.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

Related Articles

Article Drop

Latest Articles