Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Wade LeBlanc was somewhat of a nice story in the early going of the season.
The journeyman was a guy that Pirates’ manager Clint Hurdle could count on at times in the early going, posting a 2.60 ERA through April and May.
That included a nice 1.96 ERA during the month of May.
But the month of June has been a different story for LeBlanc as he reminded us that he is indeed Wade LeBlanc.
Things have been so bad for LeBlanc that you have to wonder why he still has a major league roster spot.
Summer woes
Leblanc has been downright terrible during the month of June.
So bad that his ERA for the month is nearly in double digits at 9.82.
He’s allowed 12 earned run is 11 innings pitched this month, serving up a couple of long balls in the process.
LeBlanc was only used twice in the past week, pitching a pair of innings. One of the outings was so bad that Hurdle had to warm up closer Felipe Rivero with a six-run lead and two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
The left-hander has no longer been effective and it’s a problem.
Hurdle can’t keep running guys out there that can’t get batters out.
Numbers Don’t Play
Leblanc is on an affordable contract and is a guy who has performed decent when there is little pressure on.
On the season, 32.2 of LeBlanc’s 42.2 innings pitched have come in what would be deemed low-leverage situations. He sports a 3.35 ERA and the league is hitting only .230 against him.
But turn up the pressure a bit and the results are much different.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]In medium leverage situations the league is hitting .333 vs. LeBlanc. In high leverage situation they are raking at a .300 clip.[/perfectpullquote]To break it down further, with men on base LeBlanc is allowing the league to hit .339 off of him and with runners in scoring position the league is hitting .394.
Quite simply that isn’t good enough.
And with the Pirates having several guys in the bullpen right now that are better suited for mop-up duty, it makes little sense why LeBlanc is still on the roster.
No Upside
By no means And I blaming all of the bullpens struggles on LeBlanc.
Everyone out there not named Felipe Rivero stinks at the moment.
However with LeBlanc’s struggles, and the rest of the bullpen struggling at the same time, the fact that there is no upside with LeBlanc makes it even more puzzling that he is still on the roster.
Hurdle can’t count on anyone in the bullpen so it is obviously time that things changed.
One of the first guys on the chopping block should be the guy that isn’t getting people out and isn’t part of the future.
Sadly that guy is LeBlanc.
The bullpen could be improved via trade, but there are also plenty of internal options available as well.
Chad Kuhl could be moved to the pen to make room for Steven Brault in the rotation.
Young arms with upside like Dovydas Neverauskas could be promoted.
Even A.J. Schugel, who did some good things last season could be an option. While Schugel isn’t having a great minor league season at Triple-A Indianapolis, he also had an ERA over four down their last season before getting promoted and he did some good things.
The faces need to change in the Pirates bullpen and LeBlanc is likely one of the first that should go.
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