Another University of Maine player is heading to professional baseball.
The Detroit Tigers selected left-handed Black Bears pitcher Caleb Leys in the fourth round of the MLB draft Monday, making Leys the 129th overall pick.
The milestone continues a remarkable turnaround for Leys, who missed an entire season at UMaine after Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow. He stormed back this past season to become the America East Conference pitcher of the year.
“He has become much more mature. When you have to deal with an injury like that, you have to learn how to conduct yourself better and have better preparation,” UMaine head coach Nick Derba said this spring about Leys’ return to the mound. “He grew a lot. In his routine now, he is approaching [pitching] as a professional. That’s big.”
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound pitcher from Middletown, Rhode Island, has the lowest earned run average in the conference this past season at 2.69. He totaled 74 strikeouts in 67 innings pitched.
Leys’ repertoire includes a fastball that reaches the mid-90s, a slider and a change-up.
Derba thinks Leys has a “real chance” of working his way up through the Tigers organization from the minor leagues to Major League Baseball.
“He was excellent this year, and I think that he’s just scratching his surface of ability,” Derba said Monday after Leys was drafted.
The UMaine coach said he wouldn’t be surprised to see Leys in the big leagues in the next few years.