Jose DeLeon Was a Much Better Pitcher Than His Record Indicated

(Source: SABR)

I was saddened to hear of the passing of former MLB pitcher José DeLeon. He succumbed to cancer yesterday at the age of 63. 

The Dominican born DeLeon is not to be confused with current free agent pitcher José De Leon who hails from Puerto Rico. 

At first glance, DeLeon's career appear less than impressive. His lifetime won-loss record was 86-119. However, his career ERA was a decent 3.76. 

Given that DeLeon pitched in the big leagues for 13 seasons some context is in order. 

DeLeon moved with his family to New Jersey when he was 12 and soon became a standout pitcher in high school. The Pittsburgh Pirates had their eye on DeLeon as early as 1977 and would make him their third-round draft pick in 1979. 

In the middle of the 1983 season, DeLeon would make his big-league debut earning NL Player of the Week honors in his very first week in the show. In 15 starts, DeLeon went 7-3 with a 2.83 ERA striking out 118 batters in 108 innings pitched along with two complete game shutouts. DeLeon pitched well enough to finish 7th in NL Rookie of the Year balloting. 

In his first full season in the bigs in 1984, DeLeon's record was 7-13 but maintained a decent 3.74 ERA.

Then the wheels came off in 1985. That year, DeLeon had a won-loss record of 2-19 along with a 4.70 ERA. To be certain, DeLeon had some rough outings. However, DeLeon pitched 5 or more innings in 22 of his 25 starts that season. In six of his 19 losses that year, DeLeon had six quality starts in which he pitched a minimum of 6 innings giving up 3 earned runs or less. His toughest loss of the year came on September 3rd against the Atlanta Braves in which he threw a complete game striking out 10 batters. However, the Bucs would lose 2-0 as DeLeon gave up two runs in the 7th inning on a passed ball by catcher Tony Pena and a sacrifice fly - the latter of which was unearned. Towards the end the season, DeLeon was put into the bullpen, and he would earn 3 saves before being tagged with 19th loss during the second game of a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Phillies. 

The Pirates were an awful team in 1985 with a record of 57-104 far removed from their "We Are Family" days during their 1979 World Series title. But the Bucs played their worse while DeLeon wason the mound. In 16 of his 19 losses, the Pirates scored three or fewer runs and were shutout 7 times. 

DeLeon began the 1986 season working out of the bullpen with the Pirates before making one last start with the team against that year's World Series champion the New York Mets. The Mets tagged DeLeon for 8 earned runs on 8 hits in 3.2 innings pitched surrendering home runs to Mookie Wilson and the opposing starting pitcher Rick Aguillera. It would be his last appearance in a Pirates uniform.

That July, the Bucs would trade DeLeon to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for a young outfielder named Bobby Bonilla who would become the nucleus of an outfield which included Barry Bonds and Andy Van Slyke en route to three consecutive NL East titles from 1990-1992. While DeLeon didn't set the world on fire, he didn't set himself on fire either. 

Actually, DeLeon made a splash as he bested Roger Clemens in back-to-back starts on July 30th and August 4th. Of course, 1986 was Clemens' breakout season with the AL champion Boston Red Sox. Prior to hooking up against DeLeon, Clemens was 17-2. After losing consecutive starts to DeLeon, Clemens never lost again during the regular season racking up seven straight decisions en route to a 24-4 season and the first of seven career Cy Young Awards. 

DeLeon finished 1986 with the Chisox with a 4-5 record with a sterling 2.96 ERA. In 1987, DeLeon went 11-12 with a 4.02 ERA in 31 starts with Chicago. Following the 1987 season, the Chisox traded DeLeon to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Lance Johnson and reliever Ricky Horton. 

His tenure in St. Louis started out well. In 1988, DeLeon went 13-10 with a 3.67 ERA. DeLeon would then have the best year of his professional career in 1989 when he won a career high 16 games against 12 losses posting a 3.05 ERA. He would lead the NL in strikeouts with 201, one ahead of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tim Belcher.  

At 29, DeLeon had every reason to believe he had turned the corner and put the misery of 1985 into the rear-view mirror. However, to paraphrase Yogi Berra, 1990 was a case of deja vu all over again. Unlike 1985, DeLeon got off to a decent start. Whereas DeLeon began 1985 losing his first seven decisions, DeLeon was 4-2 with a 2.85 ERA over his first nine starts in 1990. Then over the next four months, DeLeon would lose 17 of his final 20 decisions. DeLeon lost seven consecutive decisions between June 29th and August 14th. After besting the Houston Astros on August 19th, DeLeon then lost his final seven decisions. DeLeon pitched quality starts in 8 of his 19 losses. 

As was the case with the Bucs in 1985, the Redbirds didn't score when DeLeon took the rubber. St. Louis scored three runs or less in 16 of his 19 losses. The Redbirds didn't score a run for DeLeon in four of his losses and scored one run or less in 8 where he was tagged with a L. 

DeLeon did rebound somewhat during the 1991 season. Although his won-loss record was a so-so 5-9 he posted a 2.71 ERA which ranked him 6th in the NL that year. However, by 1992, DeLeon was largely relegated to the bullpen and would be traded by the Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies towards the end of the campaign. In 1993, DeLeon began the season in Philadelphia but would return to the South Side of Chicago for his second stint. The Chisox would win the AL West and DeLeon would see his only post-season action making two appearances in the ALCS. 

After spending all of 1994 with the White Sox, DeLeon was traded to the Montreal Expos towards the end of the 1995 season where he made his final seven big league appearances. Despite his 86-119 record, he posted a 3.76 ERA and struck out 1594 batters while walking 841 in 1897.1 innings pitched over 415 appearances including 264 starts. 

For better or for worse, José DeLeon got to live his big-league dreams and he was a much better pitcher than his record indicated. R.I.P.