MIAMI -- The number that jumps off the page is 15.3 per nine. That is the rate at which Jack Leathersich has struck out batters in the Minor Leagues, establishing himself as one of the game's swing-and-miss kings at any level.
That it took Leathersich until almost his 25th birthday to reach the Majors was an acknowledgement that his blade has two edges. The left-hander has also walked 4.8 batters per nine across his five-season career, bedeviling the Mets with his lack of command.
Yet in an admittedly small seven-inning sample this month at Triple-A Las Vegas, Leathersich struck out 13 while walking only two.