Mark Leiter, Jr.
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Position:
RHP
Born:
03/13/91
Height:
6'0"
Weight:
195
B/T:
R/R
Acquired:
Drafted in the 22nd round of the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft (PHI).
Most Recent Stats at Time of Debut
| 2016 Season Stats: Went 6-3 with a 3.39 ERA in 23 games, 17 of them starts, at Reading (Double-A) with one save, striking out 94 while walking 30 and allowing 91 hits in 103 2/3 innings, limiting opposing batters to a .240 average. In two games at Lehigh Valley (Triple-A) in 2017, he posted a 1.69 ERA, giving up five hits in5 1/3 innings, walking two and striking out 11, limiting opposing hitters to a .227batting average. |
Info & MLB Debut Date
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Contract purchased from Lehigh Valley April 18 when 2B Howie Kendrick was placed on the 10-day DL. MLB Debut Date: 04/28/17 |
Debut Details
| April 28, in a 5-3 loss to the Dodgers. The third of four pitchers, he pitched one perfect inning. Of 12 pitches, six were for strikes. Coming on to start the seventh inning in relief of right-handed reliever Luis Garcia, he got Yasmani Grandal to ground out to second base, after which CHase Utley flew out to left field and Cody Bellinger grounded out to first base. |
Player Notes
| Leiter, the son of former big league RHP Mark Leiter (MLB 1990-2001, multiple teams) and the nephew of former big league LHP and current MLB Network analyst Al Leiter (MLB 1987-2005, multiple teams), had a great seat from the bullpen for 11 days (though admittedly the Phillies were off on the 24th and 25th) before he finally got into a game (Covey, a White Sox Rule 5 draftee who opened the season with the Sox, did not see action for the first 11 days of his stint either). Leiter has the bloodlines but his rise to the bigs wasn't a nepotistic cruise. A senior sign out of New Jersey Institute of Technology, he certainly got on some radars when he posted a 20-strikeout game his senior year before being drafted by his favorite hometown team, the Phillies. He doesn't have pure "stuff" - his fastball barely touches 90 - but he's a smart pitcher who works with what he has and has posted a 3.37 career ERA in 95 games, 69 of them starts, over 445 2/3 innings. He underwent shoulder surgery prior to the 2016 season but enjoyed a strong campaign that summer and now gets his call-up just a few games into his Triple-A debut. By the way, his dad made HIS MLB DEBUT at age 27, so Junior already has that on him, as he just turned 26 last month. |