Safe to say, things have not gone as planned for the Yankees and new pitcher Mark Leiter Jr., who was brought in from the Cubs at the MLB trade deadline to bolster a bullpen that badly needed depth. The Yankees had been investigating bigger and better names, but were able to pluck Leiter for two prospects who might not have had a long-term future in New York, so they took the easier deal.
Heading into Saturday afternoon’s game against the Cardinals, Leiter was struggling. He was brought to the Yankees for his swing-and-miss potential, and had struck out 16 batters in 11 innings. But there also has been a good bit of swing-and-hit for Leiter, as he allowed 18 hits and a WHIP of 2.11 to open his Bronx career.
He spoke out about his struggles to the New York Post on Friday, telling the paper that he is healthy and not making much of his hard luck:
“I feel good, I feel like I’m for the most part making pitches. It’s just the game of baseball. Sometimes things are going to even out. You have a streak where you don’t give up a hit for nine games and then you have a little bit of a rougher patch. I try not to ride the wave too much. Just knowing that we play 162 games. Not getting caught up on weekly trends. It’s a game of adjustments and we’re constantly trying to make adjustments.”
Mark Leiter Has Allowed Runs in 6 of Last 8 Games
Of course, on Saturday, things did not get much better. Leiter allowed two runs—one was earned—in two innings pitched, taking a 4-1 Cardinals lead and turning it into a 6-1 bulge that proved to be the difference in holding off a Yankees comeback in the 6-5 New York loss.
Leiter allowed back-to-back doubles in the sixth, scoring one run with a second coming in on a throwing error by catcher Austin Wells.
After starting with five scoreless appearances in his first six times on the mound as a Yankee, Leiter has now allowed at least one run in six of his last eight games. For a Yankees bullpen trying to sort out its postseason pecking order, Leiter has not shown to be reliable.
Leiter chalked it up to the breaks of the game.
“If you look at each game, it’s better than probably the numbers would say,” he said. “You have a game where you give up two homers — I think I did that once last year as well — it’s just part of the game. It just happened to be when I got to a new team. If I would’ve done that in Chicago right before I got traded, nobody would’ve ever thought about it.”
Yankees Gave Up 2 Prospects in Deadline Trade
It’s worth noting that one of the players the Yankees traded away to obtain Leiter has had some struggles in the big leagues himself. That would be 6-foot-8, 24-year-old Jack Neely, who was red-hot for the Cubs’ Triple A affiliate in Iowa, but has not had the same effectiveness in the majors, allowing six runs in four innings.
The other player the Yankees sent to Chicago, infielder Benjamin Cowles, was hitting .294 with an OPS of .898 before suffering a wrist injury in July that still has him on the injured list.
