Charles Leesman

Charles James Leesman

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 4", Weight 210 lb.
• School Xavier University
• High School Elder High School
• Debut August 9, 2013
• Final Game April 22, 2014
• Born March 10, 1987 in Cincinnati, OH USA

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Biographical Information

Charles Leesman made the majors in 2013.

Leesman was 8-0 with a 1.24 ERA as a high school senior and was named All-State by the Cincinnati Enquirer. The Minnesota Twins took him in the 40th round of the 2005 amateur draft, one round before Toby Gardenhire, and he continued on to college. He was 0-1 with a save and a 2.38 ERA in limited action as a freshman at Xavier. He had a 4-3, 4.22 record as a sophomore then fell to 2-6, 5.32 with a 1.80 WHIP his junior year. He tied for 7th in the Atlantic-10 Conference in losses.

The Chicago White Sox, behind scouts Mike Shirley and Phil Gulley, selected him in the 11th round of the 2008 amateur draft. He pitched briefly that summer for the Bristol Sox (0 R in 5 1/3 IP) and Kannapolis Intimidators (one unearned run in 4 2/3 IP), with 11 strikeouts in 10 innings overall. With Kannapolis in 2009, Leesman was 13-5 with a 3.08 ERA. He led the South Atlantic League in wins (two ahead of Eric Surkamp and Johnny Dorn) and innings pitched (157 2/3, 1/3 ahead of Dorn). He was 4th among White Sox minor leaguers in victories.

In 2010, Leesman split time between the Winston-Salem Dash (9-4, 5.10) and Birmingham Barons (5-2, 2.69). He led White Sox farmhands in wins, but also in hit batters (14) and was second to Carlos Torres with 64 walks. In the Arizona Fall League, he was awful for the Peoria Saguaros (0-1, 23 H, 17 R, 9 BB in 10 2/3 IP). His 11 games pitched tied him for 5th in the AFL. The next summer, he was 10-7 with a 4.03 ERA for the Barons, with poor control (83 BB, 13 HB, 16 WP in 152 IP). He was among the Southern League leaders in ERA (10th), wins (tied Michael Antonini for 4th), hit batsmen (tied Shane Dyer for third), walks (2nd, 13 behind Nevin Griffith), strikeouts (113, 9th, between Omar Poveda and Jarrod Parker) and wild pitches (tied for 3rd with Patrick Corbin). Among White Sox minor leaguers, he was tied for second in wins, second to Griffith in walks, 7th in strikeouts, was first in hit batters and tied Andre Rienzo for second in wild pitches, one behind Griffith. He was 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 10 games for the Indios de Mayagüez, striking out 13 in 11 2/3 IP.

Charlie was excellent for the Charlotte Knights in 2012 (12-10, 2.47) and his control was sharper (52 BB, 5 HB, 5 WP in 135 IP). He was second in the 2012 International League in ERA (.12 behind Tyler Cloyd) and wins (tied for 4th with Cloyd, Nelson Figueroa and Matt Torra) then was 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA in the playoffs before a left knee sprain ended his season. In the 2012 AAA All-Star Game, he was picked for the IL team but did not appear. He led the White Sox farm system in wins and ERA, tied Cameron Bayne for third in losses and was 6th with 103 strikeouts.

He opened 2013 on the DL; returning to Charlotte, he was 3-1 with a 3.47 ERA after 13 starts. He was called up to pitch the second game of a doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins on August 9th as the extra one-day call-up. In the 1st inning, he allowed a lead-off double to Brian Dozier, retired Jamey Carroll, struck out Justin Morneau, walked Josh Willingham then fanned Oswaldo Arcia to escape the jam. He allowed only one run (a Chris Herrmann homer in the 4th) in a solid 5-inning start while striking out eight. He gave up four hits but walked 5, leaving after his fifth walk (to Chris Colabello) in favor of Ramon Troncoso. He and Liam Hendriks were in the middle of a 1-1 duel at that point; the Sox wound up falling to the Twins, 3-2 in 10 innings. He made 7 other appearances for the White Sox, but they were all in relief and he had no decisions and a 7.04 ERA in 15 1/3 innings. With Charlotte, he was 4-3, 3.87 in 16 starts. He was back at Charlotte to open the 2014 season but was called up on April 22nd to start in place of the injured Chris Sale against the Detroit Tigers. Things did not go well as he allowed 6 runs and 9 hits over 2 2/3 innings as Miguel Cabrera tagged him for a two-run homer. he was charged with the 8-6 loss, the first of his career.

Sources

• 2013 White Sox Media Guide
• MILB.com
• Xavier bio

Related Sites

• Charles Leesman on mlb.com