Journeyman LeBlanc already counting days to 2019 after breakthrough Mariners season

Wade LeBlanc struggled with his command and fought his release point. He had sat in the dugout for what felt like an hour watching the Seattle Mariners’ roll in a seven-run second inning and two more runs in the third.

“Yeah, man, gosh ... I can’t believe these guys were scoring so many runs,” LeBlanc said, tongue in cheek and smiling. “God, just selfish of them.”

LeBlanc had just tossed three scoreless and allowed one hit, including striking out slugger Joey Gallo on a perfectly located 87-mph cutter.

In the fourth inning LeBlanc walked the leadoff batter, allowed Adrian Beltre’s RBI double and another RBI double from Nomar Mazara before Robinson Chirinos’ two-run home run.

“I executed pitches for three innings and probably felt the best I’ve felt in the second half,” LeBlanc said. “And then the fourth and fifth were like I had never thrown a baseball before. It happens sometimes.”

The Rangers tacked on two more runs off LeBlanc in the fifth to cut the lead to 9-6.

“Everything felt awful in the fourth and fifth inning,” LeBlanc said. “It’s all mechanical, but there’s nothing specific I can name. Those innings were just completely foreign. It was just a matter of that point praying that Scott would let me get six outs so I can get out of here with the win.”

He did, LeBlanc’s ninth win of the season.

So LeBlanc pitched five innings, allowed six runs (five earned) and struck out six batters in his final start of the season. Nothing to write home about, no.

But the 34-year-old from Lake Charles, Louisiana, certainly had a season to write home about, and one that rejuvenated his once hanging-by-a-thread career. He had allowed just seven runs in 34 1/3 innings over his previous six starts (1.83 ERA) before allowing five earned runs in five innings Friday night.

LeBlanc finishes the season with a 3.72 ERA in 162 innings pitched, which should be enough to qualify for the ERA title (it typically requires about 162 innings pitched). He obviously won’t get the ERA title, not with Tampa Bay’s Blake Snell (a Shorewood High School graduate) at a 1.90 ERA.

But the fact LeBlanc reached 162 innings would have been unfathomable at the beginning of the season. He pitched out of the Pirates’ bullpen all last season. His previous career high for innings pitched was way back in 2010 when he tossed 146 innings for the San Diego Padres in 25 starts.

He was pitching in Japan three years ago.

“It’s a huge blessing this season – a huge blessing,” LeBlanc said. “If you would have asked me on March 21 where we would be standing right now, I would be hard-pressed to tell you I would be standing right here. It’s really been a fun experience to be part of this and battle with these guys every day.

“It didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to, but there’s a whole lot of teams that it doesn’t work out for. Our job is to figure out where we can be more consistent in the offseason and get back at it in spring training.”

LeBlanc earned a $2.75 million one-year contract extension in early July with club options through 2022 and performance bonuses that could net him $32 million.

It really marks the first time since he came out of the University of Alabama as a second-round pick in 2006 and pitched with the Padres until 2011 that he’s had a semblance of club stability. He’s since pitched for six other MLB teams, not including minor-league and Japan adventures.

He was released from his minor league deal from the Yankees this spring before the Mariners signed him to a major league deal the final week of spring training to be their long reliever out of the bullpen.

“When you go through this type of grind for an entire season – it teaches you a lot about yourself as a player and as a person,” LeBlanc said. “It teaches you this game is built on failure. You go through those failures and you see that you can come out on the other side of it and finish the season on a high note. It’s definitely been a big blessing this season, for sure.”

But he learned enough about himself as a pitcher this year to be excited about the prospects of having higher expectations for himself heading into 2019.

“I’m counting the days,” he said. “You already count the days. You’re excited for the rest, and then there’s probably about a month or so and you start getting the itch again.”

And maybe what impressed Servais most was LeBlanc’s growing clubhouse presence.

“He’s not afraid to express an opinion or talk to guys,” Servais said. “I enjoy having him around. He’s a good guy in the clubhouse. He appreciates where he’s come from and where he’s at today.”

This story was originally published September 29, 2018 at 12:11 AM.