KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Upon arrival this spring, the 27-year-old Jordan Leasure was told something he'd never heard before in his professional career.
"I came into camp and they sat me down and told me I earned a spot last year, to be in the pen at the start of the year, so take the spring and get my routine and my body ready and everything I need to do to have a full season," Leasure said. "The first two springs it was coming in here trying to earn a spot, so it was nice to know I already had a spot in the pen. Kind of allowed me to go about it a little differently, but still keep that competitive mindset."
Leasure becoming a productive reliever since coming over from the Dodgers with Nick Nastrini in 2023 for Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly hasn't been a turnkey process by any means. Anyone who has pitched leverage relief innings for the White Sox the last two years has many memorable letdown outings, but Leasure has earned it.
His high slot, vertical fastball-oriented attack is still homer-prone, as the two long balls he's already given up during the season show. But from last Aug. 1 through the scoreless eighth he pitched Thursday night in Kansas City, Leasure's results have been that of someone who would walk into camp for any team with a defined role.
| IP | ERA | K% | BB% | HR/9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | 3.27 | 36.1 | 7.4 | 1.64 |
The one bad number here is the kind that tends to provide more lingering memories to upset viewers than his newly steady production. Leasure has been charged with 10 blown saves in his still-young career, and feels there's no way to completely shut out what irate fans and upset gamblers have to throw his way via social media when a late-game outing goes sideways.
"It's hard to steel your mind against that, because we're humans," Leasure said. "You see something, it's going to affect you somewhat. It's more so how you let it affect you and what you choose to think about yourself when you see it. You know I've had some terrible outings, and I've had some really good ones. When I have a really good one, I don't hear anything. When I have a really bad ones, I hear everything."
Part of how Leasure has chosen to see himself is as an unfinished project. He's never quite dominated with his hoppy heater the way that was first anticipated, But since his rocky debut in 2024, Leasure's mid-80s slider has taken on more of a pure gyro shape to help him mitigate his platoon issues just enough, but also has become a pitch he executes so reliably it that he doesn't have to think anything beyond "rip it."
Normally, reliever learning a third pitch is a throwaway spring training narrative -- especially when it centers around changeups -- that dissipates quickly after the season starts and reality sets in. That was certainly true for Leasure in 2025, but a spring with less pressure for immediate results allowed for more time to focus on building out new strengths, and the right-hander was adamant he was sticking with his splitter this time around, even when it was absent in his first two outings of the season.
"That's going to be more of a pitch I try to lean on against lefties this year," Leasure said. "I threw a couple at the end of spring that were pretty good."
On Thursday night, it's safe to say Leasure threw the best two splitters of his career to strike out Royals catcher Carter Jensen, which now look like the culmination of the righty trying to work in, and finding better command of the pitch over the past week.
"It was pretty good, two pitches," said Edgar Quero, after doubling up the pitch call. "I love it. It's pretty good."
If Grant Taylor is going to continue to bounce around for this White Sox team, Leasure might have the opportunity to settle into a primary right-handed setup role. He still has a .222/.319/.527 career line against left-handers that his splitter needs to help him shave down, and the work hasn't become any less forgiving, but Leasure speaks with some acquired assurance about handling it all.
"Even if you have a 10-year career, it's such a short time that you get to play this game, so I'm going to enjoy every part of it," Leasure said. "Obviously the bad stuff kind of sucks to see, but at this point I just try to laugh it off and move on. I'm a human being. I'm going to go out there and I'm going to suck sometimes, whatever, it happens. But I'm going to have to choose to do whatever I can to bounce back the next day, the next time I pitch, and be better.
"I think that's where the joy in this game comes from. Whether you're a starter or a reliever, you're going to pitch again and so why would you let that one bad outing or one bad game carry over to the next one when you could do something about it?"
