This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin's White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
CHICAGO -- It took Jordan Leasure two or three appearances to become a trusted late-inning leverage arm for the White Sox bullpen.
But the focus of this talk with the rookie right-hander has less to do with his four scoreless appearances to date and more about the overall big picture that is the start of his career. Here’s my recent question-and-answer session with Leasure, Chicago’s No. 16 prospect per MLB Pipeline, who joined the White Sox with right-hander Nick Nastrini in a 2023 Trade Deadline deal that sent Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly to the Dodgers.
Merkin: What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned in the two weeks you’ve been in the Majors?
Leasure: There’s a lot. The food, the travel. It’s definitely an adjustment, but I feel like I’m getting used to it now. Especially with all the guys around me making it easier. Just the food and the travel have been a big adjustment.
Merkin: How so, exactly?
Leasure: Better hotels, flying obviously. And then pretty much everything is taken care of for you. The food is better, too.
Merkin: This is your job, of course. But you are having an immense amount of fun.
Leasure: Yeah, yeah. It doesn’t feel like a job (laughs).
Merkin: What’s the biggest source of fun that stands out to date?
Leasure: Just being here. It still doesn’t really feel real yet. But yeah, just having fun, getting to know all the guys. Playing a kid’s game.
In the Minor Leagues, it feels a little bit different, because up until now, you are working to get to this point. Now you are here, and it’s like, ‘All right, I can relax and have fun and enjoy what I get to do every day.’
Merkin: Now you have to work to stay.
Leasure: You don’t want to get sent back down.
Merkin: Your first appearance came on March 30 against the Tigers. What went through your mind before throwing that first pitch?
Leasure: I don’t remember a whole lot. I just remember before I was thinking, ‘Throw it as hard as I can in the strike zone. I don’t want my first pitch to be a ball.’ It was a strike.
Merkin: You’ve talked before about wanting to hit 100 mph with your fastball at some point.
Leasure: Still working toward that (smiles). I don’t think I’ve gotten close yet this season. (Per Statcast, Leasure’s fastball has averaged 96.1 mph but has hit as high as 99 mph.)
Merkin: You’ve also become a better pitcher overall since joining the White Sox.
Leasure: Yeah, for sure. A little bit more mature. Knowing what I’m doing with all my pitches, and then adding a curve ball obviously helps. Hopefully [I’ll] keep building up the velo and keep getting better.
Merkin: What was the first thing you did after the big league debut?
Leasure: I had a couple of friends in town, guys I played with in college. Right after the game, I saw them, and they all hung out and we got dinner. It was pretty fun.