Wade LeBlanc

Wade LeBlanc Announces Retirement

By Mark Polishuk | April 2, 2022 at 8:36pm CDT

Left-hander Wade LeBlanc has decided to retire, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports (Twitter link). The 37-year-old LeBlanc is hanging up his cleats after pitching in parts of 13 Major League seasons with nine different teams, as well as a stint in Japan with the Saitama Seibu Lions in 2015.

Originally a second-round pick for the Padres in the 2006 draft, LeBlanc has pitched in a number of different roles over his long career. The southpaw has seen work as a full-time starter, full-time reliever, and most often a little bit of both, with teams usually eyeing LeBlanc in various types of swingman or long relief roles. Interestingly, despite the “veteran lefty” mold, LeBlanc didn’t see much specialist work since left-handed batters actually did more damage (.843 OPS) against him than right-handed batters (.763 OPS).

Never a big strikeout pitcher or a high-velocity arm, LeBlanc relied more on off-speed pitches than his fastball, and got out by generating soft contact. When LeBlanc was getting that weak contact and keeping the ball in the park, he was quite effective, though home runs became an increasing problem in recent years.

Of LeBlanc’s nine MLB teams, his longest stints came with the Mariners (333 1/3 IP), Padres (293 1/3 IP), and Marlins (117 1/3 IP). He most recently saw action with the Cardinals, signing a contract in June when the Cards were besieged with pitching injuries.

LeBlanc helped stabilize things by posting a 3.61 ERA over his 42 1/3 innings in a St. Louis uniform, helping the team tread water until eventually going on a major hot streak down the stretch. Unfortunately, LeBlanc wasn’t there to enjoy that success, as he was sidelined with an elbow injury and was reportedly set to undergo some type of medical procedure to address his elbow in September.

LeBlanc will retire with a 4.54 career ERA over 931 1/3 Major League innings. We at MLBTR congratulate LeBlanc on an excellent career and we wish him the best in his post-playing endeavors.

Wade LeBlanc To Undergo Elbow Procedure

By Steve Adams | September 9, 2021 at 11:27am CDT

The Cardinals have shut left-hander Wade LeBlanc down for the remainder of the season, manager Mike Shildt announced to reporters Thursday (Twitter link via Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat). He’s expected to undergo some type of procedure to address the elbow pain that has sidelined him, though Shildt was not able to provide specifics. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that LeBlanc is still exploring options. Shildt noted that LeBlanc, a pending free agent, is expected to be ready for Spring Training.

Originally signed back in June with the rotation in shambles, LeBlanc was viewed as little more than a flier on a veteran stopgap at the time. However, he emerged as much more than that, not only providing steady innings but giving the Cardinals his best work since the 2018 season.

LeBlanc, 37, appeared in a dozen games for St. Louis — four relief outings and eight starts — and put together 42 1/3 innings of 3.61 ERA ball. A middling 12.2 percent strikeout rate and 8.5 percent walk rate didn’t inspire much confidence in his ability to sustain that pace, but the innings he provided are in the books and came at a desperately needed time for the Cards.

Shaky strikeout-to-walk profile notwithstanding, LeBlanc’s solid showing in St. Louis ought to earn him another opportunity in 2022, even with some uncertainty regarding his health. An exact timeline on his recovery won’t be known until LeBlanc and the doctors he’s consulting pin down the extent of the procedure he’ll need, but if he’s expected to be ready come Spring Training, it’s easy to envision multiple clubs showing interest on a minor league pact. He’d be a fine depth option for the Cardinals in that regard, and he’s clearly already made a nice impression on the organization.

With LeBlanc out for the remainder of the season and Jack Flaherty again on the shelf with a shoulder strain, the Cardinals will continue relying on Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Jon Lester and J.A. Happ atop the rotation. Lefty Kwang Hyun Kim and right-handers Jake Woodford and Daniel Ponce de Leon are among the other options to start games down the stretch for a Cardinals club that is buried in the NL Central but sits just three and a half games back of the second Wild Card spot in the National League.

Central Notes: Royals, Cardinals, Tigers

By TC Zencka | August 27, 2021 at 8:01pm CDT

The Royals are placing Brad Keller on the 10-day injured list with a right lat strain, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com (via Twitter). Josh Staumont has returned from the COVID-related injured list to take his roster spot. Keller has reliably taken his rotation turn all season long for Kansas City, totaling 133 2/3 innings across 26 starts (though he was removed from his last start). The quality of those turns hasn’t perhaps been what Keller or the Royals would hope, however, as he owns a 5.39 ERA/4.72 FIP and -0.2 rWAR. Staumont, for his part, spent just one day on the injured list.

Let’s take a spin around the Midwest and see what shakes loose…

Carlos Martinez is probably done for the year, per MLB.com’s Zachary Silver (via Twitter). Wade LeBlanc is also questionable to return after feeling some elbow pain in his latest bullpen. If Martinez’s season is truly over, it will have been a disappointing one for the one-time Cardinal ace. Martinez owns a 6.23 ERA over 82 1/3 innings. A 4.76 FIP suggests it might not have quite been the disaster season that those baseline numbers suggest, however.
While we’re here, we might as well check in with Jack Flaherty, who is also questionable to return this season. The Cardinals are putting him through a series of assessments now. What matters most is making sure he’s healthy for 2022, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Same story for Ryan Helsley, who will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and look ahead to next season.
The Tigers released Renato Nunez, per Evan Woodbery of the MLive Media Group (via Twitter). Manager A.J. Hinch suggested that there weren’t enough at-bats to go around in Triple-A for Spencer Torkelson, Aderlin Rodriguez, and Nunez. The Tigers outrighted Nunez a few days ago, and he will now be free to sign anywhere.

Injury Notes: Hoskins, Galvis, Boyd, LeBlanc, Kim

By Darragh McDonald | August 15, 2021 at 9:33am CDT

Rhys Hoskins isn’t expected to come off the injured list when first eligible, per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. The minimum 10-day stint will have elapsed by Tuesday, but Hoskins still hasn’t tested his injured groin by running. The first baseman just received a cortisone injection to try and aid his recovery and is still aiming to be activated at some point this week. Every game is crucial for the Phillies as they are in the thick of a three-team race for the AL East crown. They are currently tied with Atlanta for the top spot, with the Mets just 1 1/2 games behind. Hoskins is having another fine season at the plate, slashing .244/.332/.509, which is 23% better than league average by wRC+.

Salisbury also notes that Freddy Galvis has started taking batting practice and is progressing towards a rehab stint. The infielder was on the injured list with a quad strain when the Orioles traded him to the Phillies before the deadline. Before getting hurt, he was slashing .249/.306/.414. That amounts to a wRC+ of 97, which is below league average but a career high for Galvis. Despite never being a huge offensive threat, he’s long been a valuable contributor because of his excellent glovework.

Other notes from around the league…

Matthew Boyd is rehabbing and hoping to return before the end of August, reports Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. The lefty was placed on the IL in mid-June with a triceps issue but now potentially a few weeks away from returning. Boyd has a year of team control remaining before reaching free agency and figures to be an important part of the Tigers’ 2022 rotation as they look to move from rebuilding to contending. If he stays on track with his rehab, he could get more than a month’s worth of work in before the offseason. Prior to the injury, Boyd had an ERA of 3.44 on the year through 70 2/3 innings.
Neither Wade LeBlanc nor Kwang Hyun Kim are expected to come off the IL as soon as they are eligible, according to Cardinals manager Mike Shildt, per Jeff Jones of MLB.com. Kim, who has a 3.36 ERA in 91 innings this season, has been out since August 9th with elbow inflammation. LeBlanc, who also is dealing with an elbow issue, has an ERA of 3.61 in 42 1/3 innings for St. Louis this year. However, the rotation just welcomed Jack Flaherty back into the fold and could soon see a return of Miles Mikolas, who is currently on a rehab assignment. The club is currently 4 1/2 games behind a slumping Padres club for the final NL playoff spot, but with three teams in between them.

Cardinals Activate Jack Flaherty

By Steve Adams | August 13, 2021 at 3:39pm CDT

3:39 pm: St. Louis announced that Flaherty has been activated from the IL, as expected. LeBlanc landed on the 10-day IL to create an active roster spot. To create space on the 40-man roster, St. Louis placed minor league right-hander Johan Quezada on the 60-day injured list earlier this week, notes Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat (Twitter link).

10:50 am: After more than ten weeks on the injured list due to a severe oblique strain, Jack Flaherty is slated to make his return to the Cardinals tonight, as recently noted by multiple reports (including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). He’ll take the mound to open the Cards’ series against the Royals. The Cardinals will need to make 26-man and 40-man roster moves to accommodate Flaherty’s reinstatement.

Flaherty told reporters last week that he planned to pitch during the just-completed series against the Pirates, but he’ll instead take the mound a day later. His return gives the Cards their best starter after a couple months of patching the rotation in piecemeal fashion, together with journeyman pickups and a heavy reliance on some young arms that may need more development time (e.g. Johan Oviedo).

Prior to his injury, Flaherty was in the midst of a strong bounceback effort following a down year in 2020. He’d made 11 starts, tallied 62 frames and pitched to a 2.90 ERA with better-than-average strikeout and walk rates (26.3 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively). He’s made three rehab starts and built up to as many as 75 pitches in his most recent outing.

Since Flaherty went on the injured list, Cardinals starters rank 17th in the Majors with a 4.54 ERA and 21st with a 4.71 FIP. Those numbers have actually improved recently with excellent work from the seemingly ageless Adam Wainwright and June signee Wade LeBlanc. However, LeBlanc just exited yesterday’s start with left elbow pain and is headed back to St. Louis for imaging work to evaluate the injury, per Katie Woo of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Cards also recently lost Kwang Hyun Kim to another injured list stint — this one for inflammation in his left elbow. Kim has twice missed time this season due to back troubles.

Flaherty’s return should pair him with Wainwright and deadline pickups J.A. Happ and Jon Lester in the rotation while the team awaits word on LeBlanc’s elbow and hopes for a swift return for Kim. It’s also possible that right-hander Miles Mikolas, who has made just one appearance in 2020-21 thanks to a series of forearm injuries, could return within the next week. He’s been progressing through a minor league rehab assignment of his own.

While the Cardinals’ pitching injuries and the questionable depth they carried into the season look to have sunk their division hopes — St. Louis is 11 games back from the division-leading Brewers — they’re still at least on the periphery of the NL Wild Card scene. The Cards are six and a half games back from the second Wild Card and would need to leapfrog each of the Braves, Mets, Reds and Padres in order to seize that spot.

That’s obviously a tall order, but it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility. The Cardinals play each of those clubs at least three times between now and season’s end, and they also have another seven games apiece against stripped-down Cubs and Pirates rosters. They’re a clear playoff long shot, but this is the healthiest their rotation has looked in months.

Cardinals Notes: LeBlanc, Carlson, Hudson

By Anthony Franco | August 12, 2021 at 5:28pm CDT

The Cardinals are on the verge of reinstating Jack Flaherty and Miles Mikolas after both pitchers spent extended time on the injured list. Just as those two rejoin the rotation, St. Louis could be dealing with another loss on the starting staff. Veteran left-hander Wade LeBlanc left this afternoon’s start against the Pirates in the third inning after experiencing elbow pain. He’s now slated to undergo further testing to determine the issue’s severity, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

LeBlanc wasn’t the only Cardinals player to make an early exit from today’s contest. Rookie outfielder Dylan Carlson was removed with soreness in his right wrist. The 22-year-old has been playing through some pain in the area for a few days, according to Brenden Schaeffer of KMOV. He’s now slated to undergo an MRI.

The switch-hitting Carlson has been a bright spot in what’s overall been a bit of a disappointing season in St. Louis. A longtime top prospect, he struggled in his first crack at the majors last year but has somewhat quietly had a nice 2021 campaign. Carlson is hitting .261/.341/.419 over 478 plate appearances, logging a decent amount of action at all three outfield spots. Defensive metrics suggest he’s a better fit in the corner outfield than center — a sentiment public prospect evaluators have long shared — but he’s shown quite a bit of promise offensively.

Carlson’s approach at the plate has been particularly impressive for a player so young. He’s already one of the game’s more patient hitters, chasing just 25.8% of pitches outside the strike zone (league average is 31.1%). Yet he’s still been aggressive enough on offerings in the zone to do some damage, hitting twelve homers and showing the ability to hit to all fields. Carlson hasn’t necessarily produced at an eye-popping level, but he already looks like an above-average hitter and has certainly done enough to guarantee himself a regular role on the club for 2022 and beyond.

In better health news for the Cards, injured right-hander Dakota Hudson continues to progress in his rehab from last year’s Tommy John surgery. Goold writes that St. Louis president of baseball operations John Mozeliak was impressed with Hudson’s form after watching the 26-year-old throw this week. Goold reiterates that Hudson and the team remain optimistic about his chances to pitch in the big leagues this season.

Presumably, that’d come in short relief stints given his lack of time to build arm strength during a lengthy minor league rehab assignment, but any contribution from Hudson in 2021 would be a welcome development. Tommy John surgeries often require a recovery period of fourteen months or more. Hudson, who underwent the procedure at the end of last September, would be back in almost exactly one calendar year were to make it onto a big league mound. At 58-56, the Cardinals look unlikely to be serious factors in the postseason race. Nevertheless, getting Hudson back (if possible) could allow him to log a few innings and have a more or less regular offseason in preparation for a return to the rotation in 2022.

NL Central Notes: Senzel, Gant, Cardinals, Cubs, Hoerner

By Mark Polishuk | June 26, 2021 at 9:16am CDT

It’s going to be longer than originally expected before the Reds get Nick Senzel back on the field, as manager David Bell told reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon) that Senzel isn’t likely to be activated from the 60-day injured list as soon as he is immediately eligible. “I would think towards the end of July before we would see him back here,” Bell said. “That’s a bit of a guess, but just because there’s not an exact clear day right now. He’s definitely progressing the right way, but it’s just taken some time.”

Senzel was initially placed on the 10-day IL on May 21 and he underwent arthroscopic left knee surgery five days later, with Cincinnati shifting him to the 60-day IL in June when an 40-man roster spot was required. The 60-day placement backdates to May 21, so Senzel would have been eligible to return just after the All-Star break. While pushing Senzel’s return date back from mid-July to late July isn’t a huge delay on paper, it does represent even more lost time for a player who has unfortunately become an injured-list regular during his young career. On the plus side, Senzel has already started some light baseball activities, such as pre-game throwing over the last few days.

Cardinals Sign Wade LeBlanc

By Mark Polishuk | June 17, 2021 at 4:21pm CDT

The Cardinals announced the signing of left-hander Wade LeBlanc. The deal is apparently a Major League contract, as LeBlanc will move directly onto the Cards’ active roster. In corresponding moves, right-hander Seth Elledge was optioned to Triple-A, and infielder Max Moroff was moved from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL.

LeBlanc is now lined up to pitch for the ninth different team of his 13-season MLB career. LeBlanc was also briefly a member of the Brewers and Rangers organizations within the last two months, signing minor league contracts with both clubs but not receiving a promotion to the majors.

This transactional carousel began after the Orioles outrighted LeBlanc in April, and the veteran southpaw decided to become a free agent. The move ended a tough two-year stint for LeBlanc in Baltimore that saw him post an 8.38 ERA over 29 innings, with LeBlanc starting seven of his 12 total appearances in the black-and-orange.

St. Louis manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat and The Athletic’s Katie Woo) that the Cardinals will mostly use LeBlanc as a relief pitcher. While LeBlanc’s recent results don’t exactly indicate a quick fix for a struggling Cards bullpen, he can at least provide the team with some depth as a long man, and perhaps even as a spot starter in the event of more injuries within the rotation. LeBlanc’s splits against left-handed batters have still been generally good, so a more situational usage — within the boundaries of the three-batter rule — might be the more optimal way to deploy the southpaw at this stage of his career.

“He’s got versatility. He’s not overly splitty, throws strikes to both righties and lefties. But he’s built up, he’s got some length,” Shildt said.

Rangers Sign Wade LeBlanc To Minors Deal

By TC Zencka | June 1, 2021 at 2:29pm CDT

The Rangers have signed free agent veteran Wade LeBlanc and assigned him to Round Rock, per the team. It’s a minor league contract.

The Rangers are LeBlanc’s third organization of the 2021 season. He spent time in the Brewers minor league system and made six appearances (one start) at the big league level for the Orioles. Those outings weren’t a rousing success as LeBlanc served up seven earned runs on 11 hits and one walk in 6 2/3 innings. He also struck out six.

LeBlanc will be around the plate, but he’s long lacked the put-away type of stuff to make batters skittish at the dish. Regardless, he’s hung around the Majors since 2008, dressing for the Padres, Marlins, Astros, Angels, Yankees, Mariners, Pirates and Orioles. He owns a career 4.59 ERA/4.73 FIP over 889 career innings.

For the Rangers, they have some uncertainty in their rotation in the near-term and likely don’t want to find themselves backed into a corner, throwing arms before they’re ready. They’re waiting to see how Kyle Gibson recovers from a strained groin, and they recently placed Kohei Arihara on the 60-day injured list. Kolby Allard looks like he’ll have a chance at earning a rotation spot, but he made his first start of the season this week after posting a 3.15 ERA out of the bullpen.

Wade LeBlanc Opts Out Of Brewers Deal

By Steve Adams | May 27, 2021 at 1:32pm CDT

Veteran left-hander Wade LeBlanc has exercised the opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Brewers and is once again a free agent, the team announced Thursday.

The 36-year-old LeBlanc opened the year with the Orioles but was designated for assignment and elected free agency in April. He joined Milwaukee on a minor league pact a few days later and made four starts for their Triple-A club, with solid results. In 16 2/3 frames, LeBlanc allowed seven runs on 12 hits and seven walks with 14 strikeouts — good for a 3.78 ERA.

LeBlanc also spent the 2020 season with the Orioles, and none of his time in Baltimore proved particularly productive. He tossed 29 frames as an Oriole and surrendered 27 runs on 38 hits and nine walks with 19 strikeouts.

LeBlanc’s last quality season at the big league level came with the 2018 Mariners, when he tossed 162 innings of 3.72 ERA ball at the back of their rotation. He was a steady performer from 2014-18 in 321 1/3 innings split between the Pirates, Yankees, Angels and Mariners, logging a combined 3.92 ERA in that time. Overall, LeBlanc carries a 4.59 ERA in 889 innings as a Major Leaguer. A club in need of some veteran depth due to injuries in its rotation (e.g. Rangers, D-backs, Mets) could take a low-risk look at the lefty now that he’s once again on the market.

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