The Reel: Meet Pitcher Euclides Leyer
Euclides Leyer enjoyed his first tenure with the Welland Jackfish so much he had didn’t have to think twice when he was offered a chance to return.
The 34-year-old pitcher was Welland’s ace in 2019, earning seven of the team’s 19 wins, and providing a veteran presence on the mound.
Leyer then moved on to play independent ball in the States as well as in Mexico and in winter ball in Nicaragua, before a call from Welland general manager Jason McKay enticed him to return.
“I just wanted to come here because I have a good relationship with J-Mac (McKay) and Brian (manager Brian Essery). “I’m here now to try to do my best to help the team.
“I just want try to help them win this championship, the second championship.”
Essery was thrilled to have Leyer return.
“He gave us a chance every game, even against the top teams. We were just trying to get established and he was our dude,” Essery said. “To get him back now six years later was just an unreal thing.”
Leyer said strong community support also played a role in his return.
“The best thing is the fans,” he said. “We have good and beautiful fans here who support us guys. That makes you feel good and in the league now, it’s a lot of defence and you have a lot of competition, so I like it.”
Leyer grew up in the baseball hot bed of the Dominican Republic, where he began playing at eight years of age.
“It was my first job until now,” he smiled.
Leyer played in the Chicago White Sox system where a pitching coach suggested a change in his arm slot to more of a sidearm sling he still uses today.
“I used to throw on top, but now I’m here (sidearm) because it works,” he said. “A lot of people call me to give me a job because of my (arm) angle. I throw a good slider, sinker. It works for me and then people want me to play for them. It’s different and hard to hit sometimes.”
It has clearly worked at the IBL level where Leyer has been dominant as both a starter and in relief.
“He came in as a starter, he was dominant as a starter. I know he had closed and was in a set up role for the last four years in the Atlantic (League) and in Mexico, so it was an easy flip to put him back into the bullpen,” Essery said. “We needed help back there, we needed somebody to help Deivy (closer Deivy Mendez) and he’s taken that role and accepted it with no issues whatsoever and I know that if we needed to flip him back to a starter role, he would do that too.”
Leyer did just that Sunday, starting and tossing seven shutout innings in a 4-0 win at Hamilton.
Leyer has moved on from the dream of pitching in the big leagues, but still enjoys competing.
“It’s so hard. Sometimes you do the job, but you can’t make it,” he said. “They have people in front of you who are big prospects so you just try to do your best so things can happen.
“If my arm is still good, I’m just going to be in the game all the time. I play here in the summer and then I have winter ball at home and Nicaragua too, so I think I have a couple more years doing this.”