Leiter Jr. used fatherly advice to find home in Cubs bullpen
Mark Leiter Sr. made his major league debut in 1990 for the Yankees, starting a journey that would include eight different teams in 11 years.
Less than a year later, Mark Jr. was born. Some kids go off to camp when school ends. The Cubs reliever spent his summers following his dad around big-league ballparks.
"I got to experience a lot of cool stuff," Mark Jr. said. "A lot of memories, like getting to go to the field with him and getting to experience it as a little kid, which was pretty awesome. Got to meet a lot of my idols as a kid, just very, very fortunate to grow up in the setting I did."
Leiter Jr. remembers following his dad on the road to Wrigley Field while the Sammy Sosa home run chase was going on. The highlight was two seasons Leiter Sr. spent pitching for Philadelphia in 1997-98. Father and son grew up in South Jersey rooting for the Phillies.
"I was a little older at that time," Mark Jr. said. "So I was able to go to the Vet (Veteran's Stadium) and be on the field almost every day if I wanted. It felt like I was almost part of the team in my mind.
"It was a fun stadium. I remember watching games there and you had a good look at the upper deck. Every once in a while, there would be some fights and you see somebody tumbling down the stairs in center field during the game. It was a lot of fun."
While watching his dad up close, Mark Jr. also learned how to persevere as a pitcher. In addition to changing teams often, Leiter Sr. did things like start 31 games for the Phillies one season, then pile up 23 saves the next.
Mark Leiter Jr. was originally drafted by Philadelphia out of New Jersey Tech in 2013 and made his major league debut with the Phillies four years later.
He was released by the Phillies, pitched a few games for Toronto, then missed the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery. When he took the mound for the Cubs on April 16 at Colorado, it was his first major league appearance in four years.
That first outing didn't go well, with 7 runs allowed. But Leiter Jr. has become a bright spot for the Cubs this season. Now working exclusively as a reliever, he's posted a 1.45 ERA in 13 appearances since the All-Star break.
"I think changing his usage and maximizing his best pitches out of the pen has been a real success for him," Cubs manager David Ross said. "He's getting ahead of hitters, the split-finger's really played since he's been in the pen."
Through the ups and downs, it's been comforting for Leiter Jr. to always be a phone call away from helpful pitching advice.
"I was very fortunate that I got to have my dad as a mentor," Leiter Jr. said. "Certain things don't make sense when you don't know enough yet. All of the sudden, he pulls out a story that happened in his career that's very similar. To be able to lean on him for that advice has been a huge tool for me to use."
When Mark was first drafted by the Phillies, his dad talked to mlb.com about watching him grow into a major league pitcher.
"I'm happy (Mark Jr.) loved baseball the way he did," Leiter Sr. said. "He's a student of it. He knows the history of the game. He loved collecting baseball cards, reading everything he could."
When Mark Jr. was a toddler, he lost his younger brother Ryan, who died at 9 months old due to spinal muscular atrophy, known as childhood Lou Gehrig disease. His parents started the Ryan Leiter fund to help other families affected by the disease.
His cousin is Jack Leiter, the former Vanderbilt star who was chosen with the second pick of the 2021 MLB draft.
"He's a lot younger than me (nine years)," Leiter Jr. said. "I was already starting pro ball when he was in high school. We talk a lot, though, and I'm happy to see he's having such great success."
Jack's father Al spent 19 years pitching in the majors and won three World Series titles. So there's no shortage of pitching knowledge to help Leiter Jr. stay on the right track.
Cubs promote pitcher:
According to the MLB transactions page, the Cubs placed pitcher Justin Steele on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Sept. 2 and selected pitcher Hunter Wesneski from Iowa. The Cubs acquired the right-handed Wesneski from the Yankees for Scott Effross last month. His first two starts with Iowa didn't go well, but since then he's allowed 1 run in his last 15 innings. Steele left his last start in Milwaukee with back pain.
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