There has not been much to get excited about as White Sox fans so far. They are the worst team in the American League and have little to offer in terms of entertainment on a nightly basis. However, there has been one positive development in the midst of this historically bad season; the White Sox have seem to found their closer of the future, one of the most important positions on the team.
While most of the White Sox bullpen has been pretty bad, there has been one name that has stood out ahead of the rest, Jordan Leasure.
The White Sox acquired Jordan Leasure along with Nick Nastrini in the Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly trade at the deadline last year. After the trade, Leasure was assigned to AAA Charlotte where he would finish out the 2023 season.
However, the end of the season did not go well for Leasure, as he struggled to a 6.08 ERA in 13 innings. But, the one bright spot were his strikeout numbers, as he struck out an insane 23 batters in that timeframe. He did not have the best control, as he walked eight batters and hitters hit .280 off of him. Despite the bad ERA and associated numbers, the strikeouts would get people excited about his potential.
Despite his rough end to 2023, he came out strong in Spring Training and he earned himself a spot on the Opening Day roster and he's proven every outing that he belongs in the majors.
So far he has looked great in his 12 appearances. He has thrown 11.1 innings en route to a 1.59 ERA. He has struck out seven batters and walked five. Batters are hitting .225 against him which is solid, but he isn't giving up much hard contact, which is a positive sign.
To make things better, another positive development recently happened, as he got his first career save, coming in to shut the door against Tampa Bay.
After Erick Fedde departed the ballgame, he left a runner on second, bringing up the tying run to the plate with just one out. Leasure had no problem getting the next two guys out, securing not only his first save, but the series sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays.
At this point, Leasure has checked all the boxes. I would imagine that manager Pedro Grifol will start giving him more opportunities to prove himself in the closer spot. I believe that he will thrive in a closer role, as he has some nasty stuff. If he can begin to convert saves at a solid rate, the White Sox may have found their closer of the future, as the White Sox have him under team control for the next six seasons.
What makes me so confident that Leasure will succeed in the closer role is the fact that he has a 100 MPH fastball and he hasn't shown it in games yet. I'm not sure why he hasn't shown it yet, but perhaps he is focusing more on throwing strikes rather than just blowing it past people. Once he gets the hang of the major leagues, I could see him kicking it up a few more MPH and really start to be dominant.
With the bad season the White Sox are having, this is a great development and hopefully it continues as the season goes on.
