Jon Leicester #52

Graduated from Palisades Charter HS in Pacific Palisades, CA, in 1997...Was an all-city pitcher as a senior and a three-time all-conference selection...Attended the University of Memphis, majoring in communications... Was selected by the Cubs in the 11th round of the 2000 First Year Player Draft...Single.

2007

Spent most of the season at AAA Norfolk but made 10 appearances for the Orioles in his first MLB action since 2005...His first five outings were relief appearances and the final five were starting assignments...Went 3-3 with a 2.22 ERA (65.0IP, 48H, 22R/16ER, 22BB, 54K) in 13 games for the Tides, including 11 starts...Allowed 3 earned runs or less in every start and held opponents to a .221 batting average...Joined the Orioles on May 7 and made one appearance, taking the loss on May 12 at Boston before being placed on the 15-day disabled list the next day with a strained posterior deltoid muscle...Was transferred to the 60-day DL on June 19...Was activated and designated for assignment on July 19...Cleared waivers and was outrighted to Norfolk...Rejoined the Orioles on August 30 when Paul Shuey was designated for assignment...Allowed runs in only one of his first four appearances, August 20-September 4, before being moved into the starting rotation...Made first major league start in over 2 years on September 8 vs. Boston and earned the victory in the Orioles' 11-5 win...Picked up the win in his next start on September 13, pitching 5.2 shutout innings against the Los Angeles Angels...Lost his next two starts despite throwing his first career complete game (8.0IP, 7H, 3ER) on September 23 at Texas...Struck out a career-high 5 batters on September 28 against the Yankees.

2006

Went to spring training with Texas after being acquired from the Cubs in a trade on November 16, 2005...Made 2 starts with AAA Oklahoma before suffering a deep left knee contusion and missing the rest of the season...Allowed 4 runs in 5.0 IP in his first start on April 9 vs. Memphis, then lost at Nashville on April 14 when he allowed 7 runs (6ER) on 11 hits in 4.0 innings...Returned to action in the fall, pitching in 10 games for the Caracas Lions of the Venezuelan Winter League...Made 5 starts, followed by 5 relief appearances, between October 12 and December 1, going 2-0 with a 5.08 ERA (28.1IP, 16ER).

2005

Split the season between the Chicago Cubs and AAA Iowa after making the Cubs' Opening Day roster for the first time...Appeared in 6 games over 4 stints with big league club...Combined, made 30 appearances, including 17 starts....Went 0-2 with a 7.50 ERA (6.0IP, 5ER) in 5 relief appearances before being optioned to Iowa on 4/27...Was recalled on 5/9 and made his first career start that day vs. New York (NL)...Allowed 4 runs on 5 hits in 3.0 innings against the Mets and was optioned back to Iowa the following day...Did not pitch in his final 2 major league stints...Was recalled on 5/29 and optioned to Iowa on 6/1...Was recalled again on 9/26 for the remainder of the season...Allowed runs in 4 of his 6 major league outings...Tossed 1.0 scoreless inning in relief on 4/6 at Arizona and on 4/11 vs. San Diego...Ranked among the Iowa staff leaders in starts (3rd, 16), strikeouts (T3rd, 73) and innings pitched (4th, 98.0 IP)...Was 3-7, 5.23 (84.1IP, 49ER) in 16 starts and 0-1, 7.24 in 8 relief appearances...Posted a 3.46 ERA (13.0IP, 5ER) in his first 4 games with Iowa, including 3 starts...Made 8 appearances, including one start, from 6/3-22, allowing 12 ER in 14.2 IP to raise his season ERA to 5.53...Earned first win of the season on 6/28 vs. Omaha, allowing one run in 5.0 innings...Recorded a 12.83 ERA over his next 3 starts, from 7/4-22, to raise ERA from 4.96 to 7.24...Beginning 7/27, posted a 3.98 ERA (52.0IP, 23ER) over his final 8 games, all starts, to finish the season at 5.51...Recorded 5 quality starts, all coming in his final 7 outings... Registered 7 or more strikeouts on 3 occasions, including season-high 8 Ks on 8/12 at Omaha...Pitched a season-high 8.0 innings in a losing effort 8/6 vs. Tucson...Earned his lone save of the season on 6/6 vs. Memphis...Lost 5 consecutive decisions over a 7-start span from 7/4-8/12...Went 0-5, 4.93 (45.2IP, 25ER) in 10 games/7 starts on the road and 3-3, 6.02 (52.1IP, 35ER) in 14 games/9 starts at home.

2004

Jon pitched in 32 games for the Cubs after making his major league debut in early June ... had two stints with the club...was 5-1 with a 3.89 ERA, including a 1.90 ERA in his 17 road appearances...stranded 13 of his 17 inherited baserunners...worked 2.0 or more innings in 8 of his 32 outings - and had a season-high 3.0-inning stint June 13 at Anaheim...was recalled from Iowa (AAA) June 6 and made his major league debut three days later, working 1.0 inning June 9 vs. St. Louis...earned his first big league win June 13 at Anaheim, hurling 3.0 scoreless innings in a 6-5, 15-inning Cub victory...his second win also came in an extra-inning affair, as he picked up the win on July 1 in a 5-4, 10-inning contest vs. Houston...was optioned to Iowa (AAA) July 11 to make room on the roster for Mike Remlinger and Kerry Wood, but was recalled 10 days later and remained with the big league club the rest of the season...opened the season at Iowa (AAA), where he went 5-2 with a 4.01 ERA in 11 starts...surrendered just 3 homers in 60.2 innings while striking out 55 batters...made one start in his second stint with the I-Cubs, finishing the year 6-2 with a 3.65 ERA...after the season, was named by Baseball America as the 8th-best prospect in the Cubs organization.

2003

Jon spent most of the season at West Tenn (AA), where he was 6-7 with a 3.89 ERA.

appeared in 45 games (9 starts) ... was 4-3 with 6 saves and a 3.35 ERA in his relief appearances and 2-4 with

was 1 hit away from a perfect game August 14 at Jacksonville, as he hurled a complete-game shutout ... struck out a season-high 10 batters in the club's 2-0 victory in his first career shutout and second career complete

was on the Cubs' roster August 27-August 30 - although he did not see any action ... after his brief appearance on the big league roster, he finished the campaign at Iowa (AAA), where he made 1 start.

2002

Jon pitched in 25 total games (18 starts) for the Cubs' Daytona (A) and West Tenn (AA) affiliates, going 4-5 with a 4.13 ERA ... allowed just 3 homers in 109.0 innings.

spent most of the campaign at Daytona, where he was 2-3 with a 3.97 ERA in 20 games (14 starts).

had a 4.26 ERA in his starts (33 ER/69.2 IP) and a 2.25 ERA in his relief appearances (3 ER/12.0 IP).

gave up just 2 homers in 81.2 innings while holding opponents to a .248 average.

fanned a season-high 11 batters May 23 vs. Vero Beach ... allowed 1 hit and no walks in 7.0 innings.

went 2-2 with a 4.61 ERA in his first 5 Double-A outings (4 starts) after being promoted to West Tenn August 1.

after the season, he pitched for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League.

2001

Spent his first full professional season at Lansing (A), going 9-10 with a 5.29 ERA in 28 games (27 starts) ... had 109 strikeouts in 153.0 innings on the mound.

threw his first pro complete game in the first game of a June 12 doubleheader at Wisconsin.

2000

Began his pro career at Eugene (A), where he was 1-5 with a 5.44 ERA in 17 games (7 starts).