Updated by Joe D. at 10:45 PM
Jack Leathersich is freaking unbelievable. He just struck out the side tonight in the ninth inning for Binghamton. His last nine outs have all been Ks and he now has 27 strikeouts in his last 12 innings pitched. For the season, Leathersich has 48 strikeouts in 25.1 innings pitched.
Back in January I compared him to Billy Wagner in an interview I did with him. He laughed and thought I was being too kind. Was I?
The league is batting just .167 against him.
See you later this season at Citi, Jack…. Just like I told you five months ago… 🙂
Original Post 12:00 PM
Adam Rubin hosted a chat today at 12pm EST on ESPN New York, answering fan questions on everything involving our beloved New York Mets. One question posed by a fan asked Rubin when the Mets would consider promoting hard-throwing southpaw reliever, Jack Leathersich.
The lefty is currently in Double-A with the Binghamton Mets, and is tearing up opposing hitters through 18 appearances this season. He’s 1-0 with a 1.48 ERA, 45 strikeouts, and 13 walks in 24.1 innings pitched.
Coming into this season, it looked like the Mets were set in the left-handed reliever department, but things haven’t played out exactly how they were hoping. Veteran Scott Rice (3-3, 3.16 ERA in 30 appearances) has been doing a stellar job, but Josh Edgin (9.64 ERA in 11 games) is currently in Triple-A trying to work through his issues, and Robert Carson (9.45 ERA in nine games) hasn’t done a much better job.
Their lack of production has made the Mets thin at that position; Pedro Feliciano is still battling food poisoning, while Tim Byrdak isn’t expected to be available until at least around the All-Star break. Terry Collins has been using Rice just about every day, as he’s leading the majors in appearances. To take some of the burden off Rice’s left wing, it would make sense to have a second lefty in the ‘pen Collins has faith in using for big spots. Leathersich has been using his velocity to get strikeouts with the B-Mets, striking out 27 hitters in his last 13.1 innings pitched.
In response to the question, Rubin wouldn’t rule out seeing the southpaw eventually make his way to Flushing in 2013, as that was his prediction during spring training a couple months ago. However, he said we shouldn’t be hoping to see him at Citi Field until the organization at least promotes him to Triple-A Las Vegas first.
When do you think we’ll see Jack Leathersich in the majors?
(Photo Credit: Gordon Donovan)
