Baseball in Fort Wayne

A few days ago, I mentioned that Wade LeBlanc was a serious contender for the fifth spot in the Padres’ rotation. While it is almost a certainty that he will begin the year at Triple A Portland, be on the lookout for him in 2008.

A recent MiLB article points to LeBlanc’s changeup as a key to his rapid rise through the Friar’s farm system. The 23-year-old LeBlanc’s changeup, a pitch the Padres wish upon all their minor leaguers, is considered “Major League-ready” and one that will help make minor league stay a short one.

If his career path is any indication, though, he might not stay in the Minors long. LeBlanc is 18-9 with a 2.97 ERA in his first 42 professional games (37 starts) to go with an impressive 1.09 WHIP (walks plus hits per nine innings) thus far.

His catcher, another former Wizard, Nick Hundley, says there was more to LeBLanc’s success than the changeup:

“He can throw it [change-up] anytime he wants to in the count . . . But more importantly is how he’s able to locate his fastball. That sets up the pitch. When he first came up, he was more in the middle of the plate and he got hurt. When he started locating his fastball to both sides of the plate is when he became effective . . . You see so many swings and misses at it. They know that it’s coming and still miss. That’s how good you know it is.”

LeBlanc was drafted in the second round of the 2006 draft and split time during his first professional summer with short-season Eugene and Fort Wayne. During his brief stay in Fort Wayne, LeBlanc produced a 4-1 record with a 2.20 earned run average over seven starts. He struck out 27 and walked 10 in 32.2 innings pitched.

[tags]Wade LeBlanc, Fort Wayne Wizards, Baseball in Fort Wayne, Padres[/tags]