wade leblanc

[rr150159]

I havent really seen his name thrown out there much. What are everyone's thoughts on him? He came on pretty strong at the end of the year and had a bunch of strong starts

[wrveres]

Leblanc is currently in a battle for the fifth starters spot with Stauffer and Latos. Both Latos and Leblanc have options left, Stauffer does not, if that helps.
If you are looking for a late round flier on a pitcher, you can do better.

[CincyReds11]

Looking at LeBlanc's underlying ratio stats really tells the tale.

BABIP: 0.224
LOB%: 78.6%
K/9: 5.83
B/9: 3.69
GB%: 36.2%
FB%: 47.1%

All of these lead to the conclusion that LeBlanc was getting pretty lucky in compiling a 3.69 ERA over his 46 innings last year. With such a small sample, I'd expect these to regress more towards the league averages and without the ability to create a lot of swings and misses or induce a significant amount of groundballs, the LeBlanc of 2009 is more likely a mirage than the real deal.

Looks like the rotation is going to be something along these lines: Garland-Young-Correia-Latos-Richard/LeBlanc/Stauffer

I'd put my money on Richard to win that 5th starter battle.

[kab21]

Even more concerning than that is his 85mph fastball.