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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy has retired from the Dayton Daily News after covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years. Hal's blog, though, will continue to be a must-read for Reds fans. He'll share his thoughts on the team this season and will file updates from Great American Ball Park. You also can catch Hal in print every Sunday in his popular Ask Hal columnHome > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2010 > April > 10 > Entry
Nothing negative leaks out of Leake
CINCINNATI - When asked about Mike Leake, Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker said, “He reminds me of some of my homeboys. Reminds me of a little surfer boy. I don’t know if he is, but he sure looks like a surfer.”
Whether the surf is up or not Sunday afternoon, the 22-year-old Leake makes his major-league debut against the Chicago Cubs without benefit of pitching a single minor-league inning. If he were a surfer, that’s like taking on the big ones on the northern tip of Oahu before learning on Malibu Beach.
Leake becomes only the 22nd player in major-league history to play in a big-league game without first playing a single minor-league game. The last pitcher to do it was Jim Abbott in 1989 for the California Angels. The last player to do it was current Chicago Cub outfielder Xavier Nady, who played one game without minor-league experience for the 2000 San Diego Padres, then was demoted and didn’t make it back to the bigs until 2003.
LEAKE, THE Reds’ No. 1 draft pick last June, is cool, calm and non-plussed about what he is about to do.
Asked if he is thinking about the history he is about to make, he says, “Not really. It might hit me some day when it shows up as a trivia question.”
Nervous? Should he be? Of course he should be. It is as manager Lou Piniella said of three rookies in his bullpen, “There is a difference when you are playing all day games in parks with single decks (spring training) than it is when you play mostly at night and they put those second and third decks on the stadiums.”
Leake seems at peace with it.
“I won’t feel that much,” he said. “I’m excited, even though you can’t tell it because I don’t show it. It’s pretty cool, though. When I walk onto the mound I’ll probably look around and see where I am, then I’ll go to work.”
Leake is in the clubhouse, but has not been in the dugout during the last two games because it is against the rules until he is activated, which will be Sunday before the game.
“I’ve watched games in here (the clubhouse) and haven’t been out there during the games, so I haven’t felt the full experience yet,” he said.
LEAKE IS lockering between Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo and somebody called it Laid-Back Corner. It probably is no accident that Leake is between the two veterans, two guys who have been there and done that, hoping some of it rubs off. For a guy with only college experience, Leake displays amazing poise and pitching knowledge.
“The kid is highly competitive,” said Baker. “His maturity level is high. He can locate his pitchers better than any young pitcher I’ve seen. Pitching is like real estate - location, locating, location. And he has it.”
Former major-league pitcher Bob Welch was a coach at Arizona State, where Leake was 16-1 with a 1.71 ERA last year. Welch told Baker, “You have to see this kid. He can really pitch. Cheese at the knees.”
Said Baker, “Welch knows what he is talking about. He could really pitch. So I respect his opinion.”
OlF HIS ARRIVAL in the big leagues, Leake said, “I just didn’t think they’d pull the trigger. In my mind I thought I could have made it. And I did. But in reality, when I came to camp I didn’t think there was a chance, that I’d get sent to Double-A and work my way up.
“It turned out the way I hoped,” he said. Leake said even late in spring when his name began popping up in conversations about him possibly winning the No. 5 spot he felt no pressure, “Because I still felt I was a long shot because they had other guys they were looking at harder than me. I just had to keep going out there and pitch at High Noon.
“There were a couple of times this spring when I was weighing some pros and cons,” he said. “But, I don’t know, I just went back to reality and thought, ‘Whatever they decide will be a positive either way.’”
Leake expects 20 members of his family to witness his debut, including his parents and brother.
So a 22-year-old kid whose biggest games so far have been a couple of College World Series games, gets the full monty Sunday.
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By Bruce
April 12, 2010 11:19 AM | Link to this
You said in your article “Leake looks like the No. 5 starter” that Darren Driefort was the last pitcher to start without pitching in the minors in 94 and now it’s Jim Abbott in this article. Who checks the stats? Chan Ho Park pitched for the Dodgers in 94 also with no minor league experience. Hanyang University and signed in amateur draft.
By dave
April 11, 2010 7:23 AM | Link to this
Gerald, I agree that they need Harang to win but did you see him pitch yesterday? Didn’t look like someone who was going to kill the Reds. The lack of offense will kill the Reds if anything. I think it’s a positive sign that the Reds did NOT trade Harang, Arroyo, and Cordero. It is a sign that they want to keep their veteran players to have a shot at winning. There is enough youth on this team without trading Harang for even more.
By George Hale
April 10, 2010 9:07 PM | Link to this
Mike Leake will do fine. Bob Welch knows.
By Gerald
April 10, 2010 8:29 PM | Link to this
Living in STL and being from Ohio and beinga reds fan for ever I must say the reds made a mistake not treading or releasing A Haranng he will kill the Reds this season let the young guys pitch we have 4 guys ready
By JRed
April 10, 2010 7:54 PM | Link to this
A couple of Reds pitchers have debuted without minor league experience: Cincinnati icon Joe Nuxhall and Big Red Machine ace Gary Nolan. If Mike Leake can be compared to either of them when he hangs ‘em up—the young man will have plenty to be proud of.