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Wade LeBlanc’s MLB Debut
By Chad Gramling | September 4, 2008
Last night, Wade LeBlanc made his Major League Debut. He’s the 12th former Wizard to do so, which breaks the record of 11 that was set in 2002. The debut makes him the 74th former Wizard to hit the big leauges.
And for the first two innings, he was perfect. Then, he gave up five runs on eight hits and two walks over the next two innings before being taken out. And, as you would expect, the Padres didn’t offer much offensive support, so LeBlanc took the loss.
Angel Berroa hit a leadoff double in the third inning and later scored to put the Dodgers on teh board. After the Padres made it 3-1 in the fourth inning, Blake DeWitt took a high fastball out of the park to tie the score at three. Then, Berroa did damage again by hitting a solo shot that put the Dodgers on top again.
“Wade couldn’t seem to get any rhythm with his pitches,” said manager Bud Black. “The command was off. He ran some deep counts. He couldn’t seem to find the feel for his change-up. The Dodgers put some good at-bats against him. He just couldn’t really get anything going to get any sort of momentum. One hundred pitches in four innings, to say the least, is a little steep” [SignonSanDiego.com].
Wade LeBlanc was drafted in the second round (36th overall) of the 2006 draft. He joined the Wizards that year and saw action in seven starts. He posted a 4-1 record with a 2.20 ERA. In 32.2 innings pitched, he struck out 27 and walked ten. This season with Triple-A Portland, LeBlanc has rebounded from early season struggles and now boasts an 11-9 record with a 5.32 ER, 139 strikeouts and 42 walks over 138.2 innings pitched. He was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the week for the span inclusive of July 28-Aug. 3. He was 2-0 and allowed just four hits and no walks over 13.0 scoreless innings. He tallied 17 strikeouts over the combined two starts during that week.
