Lesko could have been the first pitcher off the board had he not needed Tommy John surgery this spring. When healthy, the 6-foot-3 righty has a mid-90s fastball that explodes on hitters, a changeup that projects as a double-plus offering and a high-spin curveball that needs refinement. The prep righty from Georgia has a picturesque delivery, leading evaluators to project plus command/control down the road. While there is not a 100 percent success rate with Tommy John surgery, many teenage pitchers who throw that hard end up getting the surgery at some point early in their careers, so the fact he has already had the procedure doesn't make him significantly more risky than his classmates who throw hard and are healthy on draft day. He should return to game action in the second half of the 2023 season.
Lesko could have been the first pitcher off the board had he not needed Tommy John surgery this spring. When healthy, the 6-foot-3 righty has a mid-90s fastball that explodes on hitters, a changeup that projects as a double-plus offering and a high-spin curveball that needs refinement. The prep righty from Georgia has a picturesque delivery, leading evaluators to project plus command/control down the road. While there is not a 100 percent success rate with Tommy John surgery, many teenage pitchers who throw that hard end up getting the surgery at some point early in their careers, so the fact he has already had the procedure doesn't make him significantly more risky than his classmates who throw hard and are healthy on draft day. He should return to game action in the second half of the 2023 season.
Lesko could have been the first pitcher off the board had he not needed Tommy John surgery this spring. When healthy, the 6-foot-3 righty has a mid-90s fastball that explodes on hitters, a changeup that projects as a double-plus offering and a high-spin curveball that needs refinement. The prep righty from Georgia has a picturesque delivery, leading evaluators to project plus command/control down the road. While there is not a 100 percent success rate with Tommy John surgery, many teenage pitchers who throw that hard end up getting the surgery at some point early in their careers, so the fact he has already had the procedure doesn't make him significantly more risky than his classmates who throw hard and are healthy on draft day. He should return to game action in the second half of the 2023 season.
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