ORONO, Maine — University of Maine starting pitcher Caleb Leys missed all of last season after having Tommy John surgery on his left elbow in February 2024.
Now he is having the best season of his college career.
The surgery was successful, but the redshirt junior said it was having the time off that has really benefitted him from a mental standpoint.
“You hate to get injured, but it was also good for me because I was able to sit back and mature,” said Leys, a redshirt junior who leads America East in earned-run average (2.54), strikeouts (60), fewest earned runs allowed (13) and lowest batting average against him (.234) entering this weekend’s home series against the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Due to the rainy forecast for Saturday, the schedule has been changed to include a Friday doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. There will be a single game at noon Sunday. The first game Friday will be a seven-inning affair.
UMaine is leading the conference with a 10-5 record, and NJIT is tied for second at 7-5. UMaine is 16-21 overall and NJIT is 19-19.
While he was recovering from his surgery, Leys realized he needed to have confidence in himself and his pitches and to “pound the strike zone.”
“I’ve been attacking the hitters no matter what the count is,” said Leys, who features a fastball in the 92 to 95 miles-per-hour range, a slider and a change-up.
“The change-up has been coming along really well the last few weeks,” he said.
He has a 4-1 record and has thrown 46 innings in his 10 starts. He has struck out 60 and walked 20. He has given up just seven extra-base hits but no home runs.
“I’ve been keeping the ball down and mixing up my pitches and my looks. I’ve been keeping the hitters off-balance and that has really been helpful as well,” said Leys, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound Middletown, Rhode Island, native.
“He has the ability to miss barrels and that’s a talent,” said UMaine head coach Nick Derba, who added that the biggest stride Leys has made is off the field.
“He has become much more mature. When you have to deal with an injury like that, you have to learn how to conduct yourself better and have better preparation,” Derba said. “He grew a lot. In his routine now, he is approaching [pitching] as a professional. That’s big.”
Derba, a former AAA catcher, called Leys a “legitimate big league prospect.”
“He has a skill not everybody has. He throws from the correct side of the rubber, which is huge, and when you have those things, you have a chance to be really special in college and beyond,” Derba said.
Leys’ control has been significantly better this season. In his first two seasons, he walked 99 and hit 15 batters over 137 innings.
This season, he has walked 20 in 46 innings and hasn’t hit a batter this spring.
“The mental aspect helped with that, too,” Leys said. “I’ve been able to attack hitters because I really trust all of my stuff. I’ve had better spin on my pitches and they have been coming out of my hand a lot better, too.”
Senior second baseman Myles Sargent said Leys’ work ethic has improved and that has made a big difference on the field.
“His slider is nasty, his change-up is nasty and his fastball is untouchable,” said Sargent.
Leys got off to a slow start this season, but he has been on a roll of late.
Over his past five starts, all in America East, he has given up 23 hits and just two earned runs over 28 innings with 40 strikeouts and 11 walks.
He has more conference wins, four, than any other pitcher in the league.
“I’ve gotten more comfortable on the mound. I’ve settled in pretty well. I’m happy and ready to keep it going,” said Leys.
Leys was an America East All-Rookie Team selection in 2022 when he was 3-3 with a 4.64 ERA.
The following year, he was 5-1 with a 4.94 ERA and was named to the America East All-Tournament team for the title-winning Black Bears. He pitched eight innings of four-hit, one-run baseball with eight strikeouts and two walks in a 3-1 victory over the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
He has a career record of 12-5 to go with a 4.23 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 183 innings.
“His stuff is already amazing, and when goes out with the utmost confidence in himself, he does really well,” said junior catcher Dean O’Neill.
Leys has been pleased with the team’s play of late. UMaine has won eight of its last nine games and is averaging 14 runs and 15.2 hits over its last six games.
“We didn’t get off to the start we wanted in conference play, but the last couple of months have been really great,” he said. “The offense has started to click. We scored 23 runs in our last game and that’s awesome to see.”
