The White Sox have a bullpen that is there for the taking as it will be filled with many new faces in 2024. Aside from one or two holdovers, the majority of the unit will be different from last year and the most prominent role is wide open with the initially expected closer, Gregory Santos, having been traded this off season.
The bullpen will likely feature a number of veteran pitchers looking to rebuild their value and status. However, one prospect should have a chance to earn a high-leverage role with the team very soon. Jordan Leasure, acquired from the Dodgers last summer, could quickly become an option for the closer role given the stuff he possesses.
Leasure pitched with Charlotte down the stretch last season before dominating the Arizona Fall League in October. He enters Spring Training with a real chance to make the team and compete at the onset of the season. So far this spring he has yet to allow a run across four appearances of one inning a piece. In those four games, he has allowed just one hit and two walks while striking out six.
He feels good about his performance and is trying to work at something every time he pitches. In regard to his spring thus far, Leasure told me “every outing I’ve gotten more comfortable in game and starting to refine. I can feel everything coming out of a hand a lot better as well.”
With some of the best pure stuff in the White Sox organization, Leasure’s command was the only thing that held him back at times last year. When he was only throwing two pitches, if he couldn’t locate the slider, hitters would just sit on the fastball. Luckily, his fastball grades out as one of the best in all of minor league baseball and he pairs it with a sharp and effective slider that generates consistent whiffs.
Working to the White Sox
The next step in Leasure’s development started in the fall when he started working in a curveball during Fall League games. He shown a natural feel for the pitch and it’s much slower speed creates a good change of pace in contrast with the fastball that reaches 100 mph and the slider that is naturally sharp.
I talked to him about how that curveball is coming along this spring and he seems to be very confident in it. When asked about his feel for the pitch, Leasure confidently told me “I feel like it’s where I want it to be…at this point whenever I feel in game like I want to use I’m able to rip it and have 100% confidence in it.”
He added that he has heard good feedback from both the White Sox coaching staff and hitters that he has been facing throughout camp. I asked about how the pitch pairs with his fastball and slider combination to which he respond “I notice it play with the fastball, get them off the fastball. The slider is still hard and can be fouled off…the curveball slows them down more and even if they get a piece of that, I can go back to the fastball.”
Considering he has already been extremely effective with only the fastball and slider, Leasure could become a star in the bullpen with the addition of this curveball. He is clearly very confident in the pitch at this point and deploys it efficiently as a change of pace offering. If he’s able to locate these three pitches, he is undoubtedly one of the best options to close games in Chicago this year.
Given his advanced stuff and on field execution this spring, I think Leasure will be closing games by the middle of the season or even sooner. He has continue to prove himself and could develop into a great late inning arm for the White Sox.