Position: LH SP
Born: 3/10/87
Ht: 6'4" Wt: 210
Acquired: Drafted 11th Round in 2008 from Xavier
Career Stats
FutureSox Prospect Rankings
- #20 - 2009 Midseason
- #18 - 2009 Postseason
- #13 - 2010 Preseason
- #18 - 2010 Postseason
- #T-15 - 2011 Midseason
- #16 - 2012 Preseason
Accolades
- 2011 Southern League All-Star Game
- 2012 White Sox Best Changeup (Baseball America)
Scouting report
Leesman, mostly by default, is one of the better lefties in the organization. He throws from a 3/4 arm angle with good velocity (fastball sits in the low 90s). His offspeed stuff is decent, but needs improvement. Like many others, consistency and control have been the problem. In 2009, Leesman showed improvement with his control (3.3 BB/9), but in 2010 he was two different pitchers. Leesman walked more batters than he struck out at Winston-Salem and then put up strong peripherals after a puzzling promotion to Birmingham. He doesn't strike out a ton of batters, but gets a good amount of ground balls from his sinker. He is a big lefty so there is some projection with him, and he does have a good changeup, but he doesn't have the secondary stuff of a top prospect. However, the White Sox seem to really like him, inviting him to big league camp in spring training the last two years, so maybe there's something most are missing.
Major League Outlook: #5 starter/lefty-specialist reliever
ETA: Mid-to-late 2012
