Kyle Yandow Leahy (; born June 4, 1997) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.

Career

Amateur career

Leahy graduated from Erie High School in

Erie, Colorado The Town of Erie is a Statutory Town located in Weld and Boulder counties, Colorado, United States. The town population was 30,038 at the 2020 United States Census, a +65.64% increase since the 2010 United States Census. At the 2020 census, 17,3 ...

, in 2015. Playing for the school's baseball team, he had a 9–1

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

and a 0.41

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) in his senior year, and was named the ''

Longmont Times-Call The ''Longmont Daily Times-Call'', known under different combinations of these names, is a daily newspaper published for Longmont, Colorado, United States. It carries local, regional, national and world news and republishes most of its stories from ...

''s player of the year. He enrolled at

Colorado Mesa University Colorado Mesa University is a public university in Grand Junction, Colorado. The university's other locations include Bishop Campus, which houses Western Colorado Community College in northwestern Grand Junction, and a regional campus in Mont ...

to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Colorado Mesa Mavericks The Colorado Mesa Mavericks (formerly Mesa State Mavericks) are the athletic teams that represent Colorado Mesa University, located in Grand Junction, Colorado, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Mavericks compete as members of the ...

Professional career

The

selected Leahy in the 17th round, with the 513th overall selection, of the

2018 Major League Baseball draft The 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In a ...

. He made his professional debut with the rookie–level

Johnson City Cardinals The Johnson City Cardinals were a Minor League Baseball team based in Johnson City, Tennessee. The team was affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals organization from 1975 through 2020 and played in the Rookie-level Appalachian League. The team won ...

, pitching to a 5.52 ERA across 13 contests. Leahy split the 2019 season between the Single–A

Peoria Chiefs The Peoria Chiefs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The team was established in 1983 as the Peoria Suns. They are located in Peoria, Illinois, and are named for the Peori ...

, High–A

Palm Beach Cardinals The Palm Beach Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in the town of Jupiter in Palm Beach County, Florida, and play their home games at Roge ...

, and Double–A

Springfield Cardinals The Springfield Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springfield, Missouri. They compete as a member of the Texas League's North Division. The Cardinals began play in 2005. The team is owned by the 11-time Major League Baseball ...

. In 23 games (22 starts) between the three affiliates, he accumulated a 5–13 record and 3.73 ERA with 102 strikeouts in 123.0 innings pitched. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In 2021, Leahy appeared in 25 games and struggling to an 0–8 record and 8.20 ERA with 63 strikeouts across innings pitched. In 2022, Leahy spent time with Springfield for a third season, also appearing in one game for the Triple–A

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbir ...

. In 28 games (26 starts) for Springfield, he pitched to a 10–7 record and 5.29 ERA with a career–high 146 strikeouts across innings of work. Leahy began the 2023 season back with Triple-A Memphis, pitching in 28 games and recording a 4.06 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 51 innings pitched. On July 6, 2023, Leahy was selected to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. In 3 games for St. Louis, he allowed four runs on four hits and five walks with two strikeouts in innings pitched. Following the season on October 26, Leahy was removed from the 40–man roster and sent outright to Triple–A Memphis. On April 30, 2024, the Cardinals selected Leahy's contract, adding him back to the major league roster.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leahy, Kyle 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Boulder, Colorado Baseball players from Colorado St. Louis Cardinals players Colorado Mesa Mavericks baseball players Waterloo Bucks players Johnson City Cardinals players Peoria Chiefs players Palm Beach Cardinals players Springfield Cardinals players Memphis Redbirds players Salt River Rafters players