The key to Yankees' Mark Leiter Jr.'s dominant start? Work with his dad

New York Times

6 days ago

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mark Leiter Jr. started to walk off the mound, yelled and gave a slight fist pump. He didn't care if the pitch he had thrown was actually a strike.
All that mattered to Leiter was that the umpire called the curveball strike three against Logan O'Hoppe even though it was well outside to give the New York Yankees a 1-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium on Wednesday night.
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'That wasn't a strike?' Leiter asked after the game.
Moments before, catcher J.C. Escarra gave his opinion.
'Oh,' he said, 'it was definitely a ball. It was way out there.'
It earned Leiter his second save of what's been an impressive season for the New Jersey native.
With his scoreless ninth inning, he improved his ERA to 2.28 over 26 games. He's struck out a whopping 35 hitters in 23 2/3 innings. His 34.5 percent whiff rate put him in the 94th percentile of pitchers, according to Statcast. He's also done an excellent job with his hard-hit rate (28.8 percent).
Yankees reliever Mark Leiter Jr. so far this season. pic.twitter.com/kDQ893Dkpr
— Brendan Kuty 🧟‍♂️ (@BrendanKutyNJ) May 29, 2025
Leiter has been a crucial piece to the Yankees' bullpen, which didn't have closer Luke Weaver or Devin Williams available Wednesday night due to their recent workloads.
'He's super competitive,' manager Aaron Boone said. 'The bigger the spot, the more he thrives. Whether you get a result or not, he's fearless out there. Stuff has been good all year.'
The performance came after starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt (2-2, 3.95 ERA) went six scoreless innings in maybe his best outing of the year, striking out four, walking one and giving up four hits. Ian Hamilton (1 2/3 innings) and Tim Hill (1/3 inning) also supported the shutout, which gave the Yankees a series sweep heading into Thursday's off day before they start a three-game set at the Los Angeles' Dodgers on Friday.
The Yankees (35-20) lead the American League East by seven games and have won nine of their last 10.
For Leiter, the key has been better sinker velocity, according to Boone. Leiter's sinker went into Wednesday averaging 94 mph this season. Last year, it was at 91.5 mph.
He's also throwing it more. Entering Wednesday, he had thrown it 37.3 percent of the time. Last season, it comprised 28.6 percent of his offerings.
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'Right away we noticed this year that the stuff was crisper,' Boone said. 'More life to the sinker.'
How did that happen? How did Leiter improve the pitch? He worked with his father, Mark Leiter Sr., who pitched parts of 11 seasons in the majors, including eight games with the Yankees in 1990 as a rookie.
'It's a lot of things, honestly,' Mark Leiter Jr. said. 'Just getting into some better principles with my delivery, something I worked hard at this winter going home with my dad and working on mechanics and stuff like that. Just kind of finding a little bit of different focus with how to generate more velocity.'
How important has that been for Leiter, who also leans on a devastating splitter with a 52.3 percent whiff rate?
'It definitely helps if your stuff gets better,' he said. 'It definitely gives you a little uptick in everything you do.'
Last season was tough on Leiter, who was traded from the Chicago Cubs to the Yankees at the deadline. He put up a 4.98 ERA in 21 games after the trade. But he also made four scoreless appearances for the Yankees in the World Series.
'Look,' Boone said, 'he ended up being really good for us in the biggest of moments last year. It was a little bit up and down in those final couple of months, but he had good moments in there and finished really strong in the postseason for us when he got on the roster.'
Leiter didn't mind knowing that he was going to be used in the ninth inning.
'To be honest,' he said, 'it was kind of more calming because I knew when I was going to pitch. I kind of just knew I didn't have any chance of the phone ringing for me until the ninth. But we've all got a job to do. As relievers, we all try to do our best to remove ourselves from the emotion of the moment-to-moment of the game because somebody's got a job to do, good or bad.'
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So far, Leiter has been doing his job for the Yankees, who are benefitting from his improved sinker velocity and the work he did with his father.
'Just a really good job by him,' Boone said.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (right oblique strain) was expected to begin his rehab assignment Thursday and play third base instead of second base, Boone said before Wednesday's victory.
Chisholm has played only second base this season and in spring training, but the Yankees may be signaling their intention to keep DJ LeMahieu at second base when Chisholm returns from the injured list. Last season, the Yankees shifted Chisholm from center field to third base after they acquired him from the Miami Marlins at the trade deadline.
Boone said Chisholm had actually asked him where he wanted him to play.
'He's been awesome,' Boone said of Chisholm. 'He came in last week and was just like, 'Where do you want me?' He just wants to win. He wants a ring. That's his focus. Same as we saw last year when he came over and he was playing the outfield … He took to (third base) right away. He's been a really good teammate in that regard, and (I'm) appreciative of him being willing to do whatever it takes.'
Boone said he wasn't sure if LeMahieu would also practice at third base. He added that he wasn't committing to Chisholm becoming the Yankees' everyday third baseman just yet.
'I'm not even sure exactly how I want to go,' Boone said. 'It could be an evolving situation.'
(Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)