Anytime a senior is drafted, I get interested right away especially if it’s a pitcher. Armed with a lot of experience, they usually burst onto the MiLB scene. Such is the case with Zac Leigh from Texas State, the Cubs’ 15th round pick in this year‘s draft. The first thing that always comes to my mind is why did the Cubs take him? Was it one pitch that they thought they could build around? Or was it the makeup or overall pitching profile?
Basic Information
Age – 23
Position – RHP
Height – 6-foot
Weight – 170
Throws – Right
What I said on Draft Day
A fifth year senior, he saved his best season for last as he started fifteen games with a 5.03 ERA in 87.2 IP.
Nothing sticks out on the statline so there must be some late season adjustment that he made that propelled the Cubs to draft him.
Lee pitched for Texas State for five seasons from 2017 to 2021. As mentioned above, he did save his best season for his last year. Like most freshmen, Leigh began his college career as a reliever. He threw 13.1 innings with a 4.73 ERA struck out eight but walked 10. Things improved as a start as a sophomore. He appeared in seventeen games, nine as a starter. He threw 61.2 innings and struck out 45 batters. He did walk 32 and had an ERA of 5.11.
As a junior in 2019, Leigh was back in the bullpen as he had a 4.45 ERA in 21 games as he only threw 34.2 innings. During the pandemic year of 2020, Leigh only got in for games but had a 1.88 ERA.
The biggest thing to take away from his senior year was the amount of work that he put in at 86 innings along with the strikeouts which was about one per inning.
Steven Trout, Lee’s college coach at North Texas, said, “I couldn’t be more fired up for Zac and his family to see his dream of getting drafted come true. As a walk-on two-way player out of high school, he just continued to work hard and always pitched with an edge about him. He’s one of the most competitive players we’ve had the privilege to coach. I can’t wait to follow his career and I’m very thankful for all he did for Texas.”
I initially thought that Leigh would not pitch after signing since he pitched a pretty full season this spring. That looked like it was going to hold true as he went to Mesa but did not get in any games the first four weeks he was there. However, Leigh did throw and began his entrance into the Cub way. In the course of a month, Leigh gained 10 pounds of muscle and 4 mph on his fastball. He went for 92-94 to 96 to 98.
Over the last two weeks of the season, I saw him pitch live twice for South Bend. The first time was in Beloit and he did not disappoint throwing 98 out of the chute. It was an impressive debut with South Bend, even though I spelled his name wrong.
I got to see him again in the Quad Cities the next week and he was more impressive than the first. This time, I got his name right.
I am ready to see him go again, however it won’t be until spring. Leigh is going to be on my shortlist of guys who are going to breakout in 2022. The dude is legit. As for where he will begin 2022, spring training will decide that. More than likely, he comes back to South Bend at least to begin. However, he should consider himself in contention for a spot at Tennessee to start the year.
Cubs Central 
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[…] in at number two this year was my profile I did on Cubs draft pick Zac Leigh. For some strange reason this summer and fall, I did an article on each and every guy the Cubs […]
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