Charlie Leesman and Brent Morel

Merkin:

A funny thing happened to Leesman, 23, during his time at this fall’s Instructional League. His velocity jumped up from 94 mph to 96 mph.

“As of late, I started throwing harder,” Leesman said. “I look at myself as a power lefty pitcher with a good breaking ball. I’m working on my change, and now I have a cutter.”

Leesman has been “fiddling with the grip” of the cutter and has started to use it in games. Adding that pitch to his repertoire should help the 11th-round pick from the 2008 Draft build on last year’s success. ….