CPBL Foreign Players Updates Volume #334
Fubon Guardians News: Aaron Leasher
According to public records, the Fubon Guardians filed two new hiring applications to Taiwan’s Ministry of Labor on June 21 and June 28. This action typically means that the Guardians have signed two new foreign players, pending official announcement.
On June 30, the Guardians revealed that one of the new signings was Jack Labosky but still kept quiet about the name of the other pitcher. On July 13, rumours began to circulate that the Guardians were targeting Zac Grotz from the Mexican League.
Fast forward to July 16, the Fubon Guardians finally announced the signing of Aaron Leasher from the Atlantic League. According to the team, the 28-year-old American left-hander has already arrived in Taiwan.
“Recently, we were having a little problem finding left-handed foreign pitchers from the free agent market, and from my understanding, Aaron Leasher has a pretty good command,” said the Guardians’ manager.
Aaron Leasher began his professional career in 2017 with the San Diego Padres organisation. Over the years, he made his way up the system and peaked at Triple-A. In over three Triple-A seasons (2021-23), he compiled a 5.38 ERA and 1.59 WHIP over 150.2 innings. At the end of the 2023 season, Leasher elected free agency and left affiliated baseball.
After leaving the MLB system, during the 2023 off-season, Aaron Leasher went to play in the Dominican Winter League, where he logged 24.1 innings and put up a 2.22 ERA and 1.43 WHIP.
In 2024, Aaron Leasher signed with the Staten Island FerryHawks of the Atlantic League. Prior to his signing with the Fubon Guardians, he was considered one of the top pitchers in the Atlantic League with a strong 2.21 ERA and 1.09 WHIP across 73.1 innings.
As of today, the Fubon Guardians have Enderson Franco, Nivaldo Rodríguez, Brandon Brennan, Jake Dahlberg, Jack Labosky and Aaron Leasher as their foreign players for the 2024 CPBL season. It is also worth noting that Jake Dahlberg is currently sidelined with left elbow discomfort, and Brandon Brennan is dealing with knee discomfort.
Further Readings
Foreign players come and go. Therefore, we have compiled a tracker to monitor all foreign player signings for the 2024 CPBL season.
How long is Brennan expected to be out with his knee discomfort. Is it likely he’ll be released?
They didn’t go into detail. On July 14, the Guardians’ manager said it’s a “knee sprain and it is somewhat serious”. As for the likelihood of Brandon Brennan being released? I think it’s pretty high before the August 31 trade deadline. But I think ultimately, the Guardians will make a decision after seeing both Jack Labosky and Aaron Leasher in action. Labosky had a rough debut last night. They still have roughly 1.5 months to review all the pitchers.