Brent Allen Leach (born November 18, 1982) 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 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 ...

for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

and in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

for the

Yokohama BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current ...

Amateur career

Leach attended Brandon High School in

Brandon, Mississippi Brandon is a city in and the county seat of Rankin County, Mississippi, United States. It was incorporated on December 19, 1831. The population was 25,138 as of the 2020 census. A suburb of Jackson, Brandon is part of the Jackson Metropolitan ...

, and 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, ...

at the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bac ...

and

Delta State University Delta State University (DSU) is a public university in Cleveland, Mississippi, a city in the Mississippi Delta. History The school was established in 1924 by the State of Mississippi, using the facilities of the former Bolivar County Agricultu ...

. During his freshman season with the

Southern Miss Golden Eagles baseball The Southern Miss Golden Eagles baseball team represents the University of Southern Mississippi in NCAA Division I college baseball. They participate as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. The team has been to 21 NCAA Tournaments and served as a ...

team, Leach recorded sixteen appearances, with one save, a 2.08 earned run average and a .237 batting average against as a reliever. In 2003, he pitched in just four games, starting three of them before being injured. He missed the 2004 baseball season while undergoing

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

, and transferred to Delta State, where he returned to the bullpen full-time. In his final college baseball season, Leach pitched in 24 games, managing a 1–1 record and 1.74 earned run average, with seven saves. Following an appearance with the Statesmen at the 2005

NCAA Division II Baseball Championship The NCAA Division II baseball tournament (formerly the NCAA College Division baseball tournament) is an annual college baseball tournament held at the culmination of the spring regular season and which determines the NCAA Division II college bas ...

, Leach was drafted by the Dodgers in the sixth 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 ...

Professional career

Los Angeles Dodgers

Leach made his minor league debut in 2005 with the

Ogden Raptors The Ogden Raptors are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Ogden, Utah and play their home games at Lindquist Field. Pitch ...

and split 2006 with the Columbus Catfish and the

Vero Beach Dodgers Vero may refer to: Geography * Vero Beach, Florida, a city in the United States * Vero, Corse-du-Sud, a commune of France in Corsica Other * ''Véro'', a talk show on the Radio-Canada television network * Vero (app), a social media company co-found ...

. In 2007, Leach played fourteen games with the Advanced A

Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino The Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. The 66ers are based in San Bernardino, California, and play at San Manuel Stadium. Franchis ...

. Leach split 2008 with the 66ers and the Double-A

Jacksonville Suns The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Jacksonville, Florida, and are named for shrimp caught in the area. The team pla ...

. He was added to the Dodgers 40 man roster on November 20, 2008, and earned his first major league call-up when the Dodgers promoted him from Double-A

Chattanooga Lookouts The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

on May 2, 2009. Leach made his major league debut with one scoreless inning of relief against the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

on May 6, 2009. He made 38 appearances out of the bullpen for the Dodgers before he was sent back to the minors on July 30. He finished the season with the AAA

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an ...

. In 2010, he began his season with Albuquerque, but was sent back to the AA Lookouts in an attempt to convert him from a reliever to a starter. In 13 starts, he was 7–3 with a 4.57 earned run average.

Yokohama BayStars

On December 21, 2010, he was designated for assignment by the Dodgers and signed with the

. On March 17, 2011, in the wake of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and the resulting nuclear radiation scare, Leach left the country. He said he had no desire to return and the Nippon Baseball commissioner invoked a rare rule, placing Leach on the restricted list, the first time such a list had been used in league history. On July 8, Yokohama announced that they were going to reinstate Leach, as he had decided to return to Japan to pitch. He issued the following statement, "I'm really grateful to get another chance to play in Japan. Even after returning to the US, I had thoughts about playing for the Bay Stars. I made some good friends here during spring camp. I want to get to Ichi-gun as quickly as I can and do my best to help the team out." Leach made his NPB debut on July 28, taking a loss against the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They h ...

. He defeated the Giants on August 12 for his first Japanese league win.

Return to Dodgers

Leach signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers in February 2012 and was sent back to Albuquerque. He was released in May after appearing in 10 games for the Isotopes.

Atlanta Braves

He signed as a free agent with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

on June 21, 2012, and was assigned to the AA

Mississippi Braves The Mississippi Braves, or M-Braves as they were referred to locally, were a Minor League Baseball team based in Pearl, Mississippi, a suburb of Jackson, from 2005 to 2024. They were the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves and competed in ...

Milwaukee Brewers

Leach signed a minor league contract with the

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

on July 3, 2013. He resigned with the team on December 1, 2014, and released in August 2015.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leach, Brent 1982 births Living people People from Flowood, Mississippi Major League Baseball pitchers Los Angeles Dodgers players Yokohama BayStars players Delta State Statesmen baseball players Ogden Raptors players Columbus Catfish players Vero Beach Dodgers players Inland Empire 66ers players Jacksonville Suns players Surprise Rafters players Chattanooga Lookouts players Albuquerque Isotopes players 21st-century American sportsmen Mississippi Braves players Gwinnett Braves players Brevard County Manatees players Huntsville Stars players Nashville Sounds players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players American expatriate baseball players in Japan Southern Miss Golden Eagles baseball players Baseball players from Mississippi