Frequent call-ups relief for Leone, home or away
SEATTLE— The three-game series against the Mariners here this weekend will feel like home in more ways than one for the Blue Jays’ Dominic Leone. Canadian fans always stream across the border to Safeco Field, dubbed Rogers Centre West, when the Jays come to town.
Leone knows it well. The 25-yearold from Norwich, Conn., was drafted out of Clemson University by the Mariners in the 16th round in 2012.
“It’s the first big-league organization to give me the opportunity to play big-league ball so there’s definitely a special place in my heart for (the Mariners),” said Leone, who went 8-6 with a tidy 2.78 ERA in parts of two seasons in Seattle.
He paid his dues for the chance: starting with the short-season Class-A Everett AquaSox, then earning promotions to the Class-A Clin- ton LumberKings, High Class-A High Dessert Mavericks, Double-A Jackson Generals and Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers before making his MLB debut in April, 2014 — one in- ning, one hit, one walk and one strikeout against the Oakland A’s. Leone racked up 772⁄ innings out
3 of the Seattle ’pen before he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in June 2015 — part of a four-player deal including now-Orioles catcher Welington Castillo that brought slugger Mark Trumbo to the northwest.
When he was drafted, Leone and his AquaSox teammates made the approximately 40-minute drive south to catch the Mariners playing the Jays. He says he was shocked by the Canadian support.
“It was packed, just Jays fans everywhere. I was like: Gosh, what the heck? This is insane. It should be a home game.”
It felt like a road game for Leone. This weekend, he’s looking forward to that kind of support.
Since the Jays claimed Leone off waivers from the Diamondbacks, who was designated for assignment in November, he has been a workhorse with 14 multiple inning appearances in 22 games. Leone posted a 3.86 ERA through 252⁄ innings
3 heading into Friday night’s series opener — fourth among Jays relievers in terms of workload.
That’s impressive considering Leone has been up and down between the Jays and Triple-A Buffalo Bisons a few times this season. He was sent down when lefty J.A. Happ returned from injury in late May — a move manager John Gibbons chalked up to Leone’s remaining options and nothing more — but returned Tuesday when second baseman Devon Travis hit the DL with a knee injury.
Leone is used to the moves, but he’s also feeling more confident about his chances of eventually earning a fulltime role in the bigs.
“There’s really no guarantee you’re going to come back and get a shot, so I’m just very grateful, very glad that I keep getting these opportunities,” said Leone, who added he wsn’t happy about earning the call-up at Travis’ expense.
“He didn’t deserve to go down, but we made that move,” Gibbons said. “We were looking to try to get him back as soon as possible anyways, so now with someone on the (DL) he can come back. He was doing a good job for us, and he’s one guy that can give you more than one inning; we don’t have a lot of those guys.”
Leone credits his first season in the Seattle’s bullpen with sending him down the right path; that year, the Mariners led baseball in ERA (2.59) and xFIP (3.33), according to FanGraphs.