Charles James Leesman (born March 10, 1987) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He also played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

. He made his major league debut on August 9, 2013. Before his professional career, Leesman attended

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Xavier Musketeers The Xavier Musketeers are the 19 teams representing Xavier University in intercollegiate athletics, including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field. The Mus ...

Minors

Leesman was drafted by the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

in the 40th round of the

2005 MLB Draft The 2005 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the best drafts in recent memory. ''SourceMajor L ...

, but did not sign, opting to attend

, where he played for the

Xavier Musketeers baseball The Xavier Musketeers baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The program's first season was in 1974, and it has been a member of the NCAA Division I Big East Conferenc ...

team. Leesman was then drafted by the

in the 11th round of the 2008 MLB Draft, and signed. Leesman then started his professional baseball career with the White Sox rookie league

Bristol White Sox Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. In 2009, Leesman spent the entire season with the Class A

Kannapolis Intimidators Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte, and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. ...

and finishing the season with a record of 13-5, 3.08 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 157+ innings. In 2010, Leesman started the season with

Class A-Advanced High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...

before getting promoted to Double-A

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. He finished the 2010 season combined with a 14-6 record, 4.07 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 148+ innings. Before the 2011 season, the White Sox added Leesman to their 40-man roster to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

after the season. Leesman spent the 2012 season with the Triple-A

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field ...

and finished with a 12-10 record, 2.47 ERA and 103 strikeouts in 135 innings. Leesman injured his ACL during

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

playoffs. Leesman was designated for assignment by the White Sox on April 14, 2013, and claimed off waivers by the Rangers. The Rangers outrighted Leesman to the minor leagues, but he declined the assignment, becoming a free agent. Leesman then signed back with the White Sox on April 23, 2013.

Career

Chicago White Sox

On July 9, 2013, Leesman's contract was purchased from Charlotte and placed on the White Sox roster as the

26th 26 (twenty-six) is the natural number following 25 and preceding 27. In mathematics *26 is the seventh discrete semiprime (2 \times 13) and the fifth with 2 as the lowest non-unitary factor thus of the form (2.q), where q is a higher prime. ...

player due to the doubleheader exemption. On August 9, 2013, Leesman made his Major League debut in the second game of a doubleheader against the

. He was designated for assignment on August 16, 2014 and released on August 20.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On January 9, 2015, he signed a minor league contract with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

Wichita Wingnuts

On March 31, 2016, Leesman signed with the

Wichita Wingnuts The Wichita Wingnuts were an independent baseball team based in Wichita, Kansas, in the United States. The Wingnuts were members of the South Division of the American Association of Professional Baseball. An expansion franchise in the 2008 sea ...

of the

American Association of Independent Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

. He was released on October 20, 2017.

References

External links

Sox believe lefty Leesman has the right stuff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leesman, Charlie 1987 births Living people Baseball players from Cincinnati Chicago White Sox players Xavier Musketeers baseball players Bristol White Sox players Kannapolis Intimidators players Winston-Salem Dash players Birmingham Barons players Charlotte Knights players Major League Baseball pitchers Indianapolis Indians players Indios de Mayagüez players Peoria Saguaros players Glendale Desert Dogs players Arizona League White Sox players Wichita Wingnuts players