Every year, or at least every year since 2012, we’ve taken some time after the season was over to look at the past 162 games through the lens of the players that played them (and the management that was in charge of them). Last year, the Exit Interview series spent less time digging into splits and finding numerical oddities and more time reflecting on the player and their season. It was a style that seemed to work so we’re going to bring it back again this year. The legendary cardinalsgifs is back to bring us excellent series art, so it’s all downhill after you see that!
Player: Kyle Leahy
Stats: 1-1, 1 SV, 33 G, 48.2 IP, 40 H, 4 HR, 10 BB, 33 K, 4.07 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 1.027 WHIP, 0.2 bWAR
Statcast: 6.1% barrel, 33.3% sweet spot, 112.0 max exit velocity, .270 wOBA, .325 xwOBA, 17.3 K%, 5.2 BB%
Grade: B
As a reliever, if people aren’t remembering you, there’s a real good chance you were doing your job. For me, Leahy was a bit of a forgotten man, the guy that when you are listing out people that played for the 2024 Cardinals, you would wind up skipping and then, after looking it up, say, “Oh yeah, that guy!” He was the platonic ideal of a flexible reliever, riding the Memphis shuttle five times (though a few of those were the 27th man up/downs), always able to give a good performance in the bigs, then slip back down to Memphis when the roster spot needed to be created.
If it weren’t for that option flexibility, there’s a good chance Leahy would have stayed in the majors all year. The strikeout rate wasn’t anything special but you have to like a reliever that doesn’t walk folks and for the most part keeps the ball in the yard. He was also murder on righties (.194/.226/.259) which is a good hook. He’s never going to be a guy that’s locking down games or anything, but he can be a quality low-leverage, mid-game reliever and that’s something that’s valuable even if it gets overlooked.
What’s in store for 2025: Leahy still has an option year left, so it would seem like 2025 will be a lot like 2024. He’ll probably pitch in the sixth or seventh, make a few trips to Memphis, and be solid if forgettable. You can do a lot worse than having a couple of Kyle Leahy types in your bullpen.
