MLB draft 2026: How Butler grad, Pitt pitcher David Leslie rose from ashes, positioned himself to be drafted
David Leslie wasn’t accustomed to lackluster outings.
The Butler graduate and 2025 American Baseball Coaches Association All-American pitcher ventured into choppy waters this past season, a handful of games after transferring to Pitt from Grove City College.
Over a six-game, 22.1-inning stretch from March to April, he gave up 26 earned runs and his ERA inflated to 7.50 (from 4.12). The Panthers went 1-5 in that time.
In the days between starts during that period, Leslie wandered around campus or over to Schenley Park to do some soul-searching.
“After failing, it’s just kind of sitting with yourself,” Leslie said. “I start to kind of pick apart throughout the games what I knew I was thinking and what happened. All the symptoms I was having pointed to that diagnosis of I forgot why I even played the game.”
The strolls around Oakland helped clear Leslie’s head — and deserve credit as he hopes to hear his name called in this weekend’s MLB draft.
A start April 21 at West Virginia — 1.2 innings, one hit allowed, one strikeout — put him back on track.
“It’s kind of cliche or cheesy — however you wanna say it — but once I figured out how to have fun again, that’s when everything kinda clicked,” Leslie said. “I stopped trying so hard. I was trying to be too perfect. I just went out there and I was just enjoying it. ... That really turned my season around.”
During the latter half of the campaign, Leslie was called on out of the bullpen. The feeling of putting the stamp on games as a closer was something he reveled in.
Including the win over the Mountaineers, he allowed only 11 runs over 23 innings of work the rest of the year. His fastball tops out at 97 mph, and he features a curveball.
Leslie had to learn he could pitch at the D-I level, and sometimes remind himself even after early success.
“Making that jump (from Grove City College), at first I was kinda — definitely not scared — but I knew it was gonna be a challenge,” said Leslie, who had a 2.68 career ERA and struck out 201 batters over 178 innings pitched with the Wolverines. “Once we started competing in our team scrimmages, I knew I could do something at that level.”
Leslie polished his game throughout the fall with Panthers head coach Mike Bell and assistant coach Clay Martin. He earned a job in the starting rotation after adding a consistent change-up and beginning to toy with a slider.
He showed glimpses of the sort of stuff that eventually made him a fish too big for the Division III pond during his first four starts. He went 2-0 (the Panthers went 4-0), and he allowed nine earned runs, struck out 19 and walked three in 19.2 innings of work.
Consistency, though, proved to be an issue during his six-game rut.
“I think at the Division III level, you kinda look up to the Division I level like they’re miles ahead of you,” Leslie said. “When I got here, that was the first thing that surprised me was (that) it’s not as different as what you think. It’s just bigger players, faster game, more talent — but at the end of the day, it’s just baseball.”
He finished the 2026 season with a 6.37 ERA, 4-5 record, one save and 75 strikeouts in 65 innings.
Major league scouts have been in touch with Leslie and his advisor. He doesn’t have much of an idea when he’ll hear his name called, if at all.
The uncertainty doesn’t take away from the excitement.
“Putting everything together, it’s like, ‘Wow, this might actually happen,’” Leslie said. “Everyone wants to get drafted when they’re a kid. Everyone wants to play professional baseball when they’re a kid. Now, having these talks with coaches and scouts, it’s a weird feeling. It’s very cool. ... It makes me feel like a kid. It makes me remember being a kid and thinking about those times of wanting to be in this position.”
